Picturesque
by Sky Sorceress
Summary: Ron finds he has feelings for Hermione... But has she already grown interested in someone else? Find out in this angsty, interwoven story.. (including lame attempts at being enticing). Hopefully a semi-realistic R/Hish story. Well, we can only hope.
1. Perplexing Apex

### Picturesque

#### Part One: Perplexing Apex

Lightly gripping the edges of the letter, Ron's eyes swept over the familiar lettering. Without really reading, the words he had gone over so many times went through his head. 

_I'll try and be there today next week, sometime in the afternoon. I have so much work to do if I want to be a prefect, and later on Head Girl. Not only do I have tons of books to read, but I mean to refresh myself on some of the books assigned during previous years. I can't get behind on anything! _

Ron smiled faintly. No doubt they'd be hearing various quotes from "Hogwarts, A History" all year long. 

_Hope you aren't behind on _your_ schoolwork Ron, and hope to see you soon. Will Harry be there? _

Love from, Hermione was scrawled beneath those words. Ron sighed and placed the letter down on his night stand. But still the letter echoed in his mind. 

_Will Harry be there?_

The hero gets the girl. That's how things go. The smart, clever, decent brave one gets the girl, not the blunt, foolish but loyal sidekick. 

He had hardly even thought of Hermione as "The Girl" before the Yule Ball, hardly thought of her as anything but the brilliant know-it-all, who was so much fun to argue with. 

But now she was the girl, Harry was the hero. 

_And I'm about as much of a sidekick as you can get._ Ron thought glumly. It wasn't anyone's fault, certainly not Harry's. It was just the way things were- Harry saved the day, and everything Ron did to aid him was forgotten. Because really, who cares about the sidekick? 

Ron sighed. He knew that wasn't what really mattered- what mattered was that Harry was alive, and that Voldemort hadn't succeeded in killing him. As the three headed into 5th year, everything in the wizarding world was considerably darker but still quiet. Like the calm before the storm, Ron thought absentmindedly as he listened to the oddly quiet house. Fred and George were out, and Ginny was contentedly reading a book in the next room. Even the ghosts in the attic were no longer bashing around with the joviality they once had. 

Ron heard a tapping at his window. Glad for some noise, he rushed towards the source and found Hedwig fluttering outside. 

Ron let Hedwig in. "Finally," he mumbled, giving Hedwig a bit of food in thanks before she flew off. 

Harry's letter was messily scrawled and looked rushed. 

"Ron, 

Sorry about the late response- the Dursley's intercepted Errol and threatened to kill him if I didn't tell them what the letter was about- and yeah, they're as horrible as ever. Dursley has a girlfriend (as unbelievable as that seems) who's been staying here, and if she winks at me one more time I'm going to crack. 

So in answer, YES, I want to stay the rest of the summer with your family. I told the Dursley's you'd be here to pick me up in about three days- or two probably by the time you receive this. Hope this isn't too short notice. 

-Harry 

Ron's thoughts were interrupted as he heard Fred and George come home. Ron placed the letter besides Hermione's, when he noticed the dates at the top. 

Harry's was labeled yesterday's date. 

Hermione's was labeled six days ago. 

_I'll try and be there today next week, sometime in the afternoon. _

Oh crap. That meant that Hermione was coming tomorrow! 

Harry would come a day later. 

That would mean he had one day alone with Hermione. 

All alone with Hermione. 

There was boom in the next room, followed by a scream. 

"AAAAH! MOOO-OOOM, FRED AND GEORGE SET OFF A DUNGBOMB IN MY ROOM!" 

"FRED! GEORGE! GET DOWN HERE THIS INSTANT!" 

Oh yeah. One day alone with Hermione. Hermione and the rest of his nut case family. 

"The opposite of alone," Ron grumbled outloud to Errol, who had come flying into his room, scared off by the chaos "is the Weasley family.'" 

Errol hooted in agreement. 

~~~ 

"AAAAH!" 

A bloodcurdling scream shook Ron Weasley as he quickened his speed. Was he too late? Oh god, he couldn't be! 

He parted the leaves that stood in his way and stepped out to see Draco Malfoy holding his wand to the sky, pointing at something. Ron's eyes followed the invisible line Draco's wand pointed to. There was Hermione, dangling in midair, controlled by Draco. She twisted about in the air. 

"Please, let me go Draco! PLEASE!" she begged, losing any dignity that remained. 

Draco just laughed and made her do a loop de loop in the air. Her head darted dangerously close to the treetops. 

"Afraid of heights?" Draco teased. 

"NO!" she screamed. "Afraid and disgusted of being controlled by YOU!" 

"Let her down!" Ron yelled suddenly, stepping out passed the trees that had blocked him from view. 

"Weasley!" Draco snapped, looking angered. "Oh, all right. If you insist." he smiled and mumbled for the curse to cease. Hermione began to hurtle to Earth in slow motion as the spell released. If she hit the Earth, the impact would kill her instantly, Ron knew. 

He reached for his own wand, but it was nowhere to be found. 

"Son of a..." Ron cried, cut off only by the fact that Hermione had almost reached them. Ron glanced down helplessly at his empty hands, shrugged, and punched Draco square in the jaw. Draco's eyes widened, and he fell to the ground. 

"Damn, that felt good." Ron grinned, feeling strangely confidant. Until he saw that Hermione was only feet away from the ground. 

"Harry! Ron! Somebody!" But before Ron could reach her she had hit the ground with a sickening thud. 

"HERMIONE!" Ron shouted, running to her side. "Oh God..." He kneeled down besides her, cradled her upper body in an attempt to get her to wake up. 

"Are you alive?" he said, and seconds later suddenly found himself leaning down and kissing her, softly and tenderly. 

Her eyelids began to flutter, and quickly Ron pulled away. 

Slowly, slowly Hermione began to sit up, rubbing her eyes. Ron breathed a sigh of relief. 

"Come on," he said, by her side once more "we need to get you to a hospital." 

Hermione looked up at him. "Will Harry be there?" 

A second later Ron's eyes flew open. It was a dream. That was all. 

Right. 

--- 

Ron ran a hand through his hair, trying to slick it back. 

It fluffed up. 

He patted it down furiously. 

It fluffed up again. 

He sighed and walked downstairs, into the room where Hermione was waiting, talking with Fred, George and his parents. 

"Ron!" she shouted, waving, as she spotted him coming down the stairs. 

"Hey Hermione.." Ron said, smiling awkwardly. 

"Hermione was just telling us about the fascinating summer she had!" Mr. Weasley said. "And about an interesting muggle device called computers... Please continue dear." Mr Weasley said, turning back to Hermione eagerly. 

Mrs. Weasley sighed. "Why don't we let Ron and Hermione catch up a bit before we hound her about muggle objects, hm?" 

"Spoilsport," Mr. Weasley grumbled, although he was grinning at Mrs. Weasley. 

Ron rolled his eyes. Hermione piped up. "I don't mind, really, Mr. Weasley." she said politely. 

"Nonsense," Mrs. Weasley said, before Mr. Weasley could press on. "Come on, all of you. Fred, George, the garden needs some more degnoming before Harry comes." 

Slowly the room emptied out. Everything seemed very quiet, and Ron, once again, felt very awkward. He almost wished he could get into a heartfelt argument with Hermione, just so he could try to dazzle and impress her. 

"Uh..want to go out for a walk? I mean..the weather is nice and everything." 

"Sure," Hermione said, getting up. She started talking about some of the books she had been reading, allowing Ron to lapse into silence and to simply listen to the rise and fall of her voice as the two walked down a curving path. Her voice was so full of energy and life that he almost felt dizzy, overwhelmed. 

After ten minutes of Hermione-babble her tone changed. 

"So. How's your summer been Ron?" she queried softly. 

Ron almost jumped. He was expected to say something... 

"It's been okay, I guess. Mum's been super-overprotective ever since the incidents with You-Know-Who, and every member of the family has been a target of at least one of Fred and George's pranks. We went to some lake for a week vacation, but it wasn't very..relaxing. Percy was fussing about this and that the whole time, and Ginny nearly drowned." Ron had added the last part to make it seem like something had happened, even though Ginny hadn't come close to actually drowning, just a little upset. "Basically, it's been the usual boring, stupid, pointless summer vacation. How has yours been?" 

"Mine?" Hermione sounded surprised. "You know that I've spent most of it with Viktor." 

Of course. Krum. How could he have forgotten, even for a moment, Viktor Krum, and Hermione's constant rambles about him in all her previous letters. 

"Well you don't have to look so sullen about it!" Hermione exclaimed, glaring at him. "Honestly, would it kill you to at least pretend to be happy about it? Just because I've been having a wonderful summer doesn't mean you have to be jealous !" 

"_Jealous?_?!" Ron's voice grew louder. "Of _what_?!" 

"That you had a dull summer here while I had a marvelous one with Viktor." 

Ron rolled his eyes. "Sure, like I wanted to be the one making out with Krum." 

Hermione's face turned a crimson shade. "I'm sure you'd like that Ron," she retorted, " but you'll just have to make do with Harry." 

"What are you trying to say?!" Ron sputtered slightly as he looked after her walking coolly down the path. She turned around. 

"Ron, it was just a joke," she said, a smirk on her face. 

"Hah-hah," Ron muttered as he ran to catch up to her. 

They had reached the top of the hill the path led to. Hermione gasped- the view was magnificent. Hills and valleys played across the horizon, cozy cottages dotted the view, and the wind hushed any silence there was to hear. 

She turned to Ron. He was still staring out at the view, not with the shock Hermione had experienced- of course not, as he must have been here countless times. But he looked...humbled, as corny as that sounded to her. She studied his face. She had never thought of Ron as someone who could be impressed by something like this. She had never known that look of- was it peace on his face? Like for a moment, his critical snapping demanding eyes were fulfilled. 

_Stop being foolish, Hermione._ she scolded herself, and then turned back to the view. Ron and her were silent for long long minutes. Finally he glanced at her. 

"You wanna head back?" he said, his voice totally normal and devoid of any wonderment. Hermione gave an inaudible sigh. With that look that he had had in his eyes when he was glancing out at the hills, Hermione had half expected him to break into a series of sonnets, or something equally crazy, like reaching out and... 

"Yeah..." she said. "Okay." They started heading back down the hill, neither saying a word. The spell was over. 

"Ron?" Hermione said suddenly. 

"What?" he asked, kicking up some dust as he walked. 

"Thank you for showing me this place," she said. The words sounded uncharacteristically sentimental. 

It took a while for the smile to fully form on Ron's face but it did. "No problem," he said. 

~~~ 

_You idiot._

The words formed in Ron's mind even before he opened his eyes the next morning. 

Up on the hill he had been alone with Hermione. Right next to her, sharing the view, both amazed. Both sharing something special. And what did he do? Kiss her? Tell her how much he liked her? Did he even catch her eye and smile at her to let her know how much he was enjoying this and her company? 

No. 

Instead he had gotten scared of his own emotions and left. How stupid was that? How insecure was he? Sighing, Ron got up and sat on the edge of his bed. The abrupt shift of weight caused the old mattress strings to creak. Cheap old thing. 

Hermione and Ron had spent the remainder of the day with the rest of the Weasley family. Hermione had seemed to be thoroughly enjoying herself so Ron didn't dare suggest going somewhere together. Ron had enjoyed himself too, but it was nothing compared to his feeling up on the hill. 

And now Harry was coming. _The hero returns to find the girl waiting for him. _

Rubbing his eyes, Ron yawned. He heard a knock on his door. 

"C'min," he mumbled sleepily. 

The door creaked open. Hermione stood in the doorway. Ron blinked in surprise. The pale sunlight that reached her made her seem almost unreal. 

"'Mione?" he said softly, staring at her. 

"Morning," she said briskly, an odd contrast to the dreamy way he had been speaking. "It's beautiful outside," she continued, walking to the window and gazing out. 

"Gorgeous," Ron grumbled sleepily. "And I'm sure that it would look _just_ as gorgeous from Ginny's room." 

Hermione glared. "I heard you stirring from the other room. I just thought I might be friendly and say good morning... Silly me, won't do that again." She stormed away. 

"Smooth," Ron grumbled to himself. Sighing, he flopped back onto his bed. 

~~~ 

"No!" Mr. Weasley repeated. He gave an exasperated sigh at the practically identical faces of Fred and George. "Those muggles hardly trust _me,_ and why should they, what with you two scaring the daylights out of their-" 

"Selfish pig of a son?" Fred cut in helpfully. 

"Come on Dad, you know he had it coming," George said. 

"Be that as it may," Mr. Weasley continued, trying to hide a grin as he remembered the muggle's man huge face, comical in outrage, "we do want Harry back in one piece. Muggles can be quite dangerous." He disappeared in a quick throw of floo powder. 

Ron shrugged as his father disappeared. "I told you he wouldn't let you go pick up Harry." 

"Oh, shut up," George said, sighing. "What's wrong with you?" 

"Huh?" Ron blinked. 

"You don't seem too excited about Harry coming," George observed. 

"Your best friend of years, the one you haven't seen _all_ holiday," Fred said sadly, picking up his twin's train of thought. "And does he seem excited?" 

"Nope," Fred and George said together. 

"Well if you're expecting me to be as excited as Ginny, don't get your hopes up," Ron said casually, smiling sweetly at his little sister who had put on her finest robes to meet Harry in. Ginny blushed deeply, and Fred and George immediately started on her. Ron had learned that the best way to get Fred and George off your back was to divert their attentions to something better. 

Ginny, who had gotten much taller this year, bit her bottom lip anxiously as the twins continued on. Hopefully, they would leave her alone by the time Harry got here. It wouldn't do to have Harry hear how nervous she was to see him. She stood up straighter. Harry had to realize how grown up she was now. She wasn't the little girl who had fallen prey to Voldemort, or that annoying tagalong sister of Ron's. 

Hermione thumped down the stairs to see a good deal of redheads assembled in front of the fireplace. "Santa won't be coming for months, you know." 

Sighing, Ginny shook her head, "We are waiting," she proclaimed "for Harry." 

"Yes," Hermione answered, smiling. "I know." 

"Dad!" the Weasley kids shouted, as Mr. Weasley emerged from the fireplace, brushing himself off. 

"Hey kids," Mr. Weasley said, looking pleased at such a warm welcome. "How are y-" 

"Where's Harry?" Ron demanded 

Mr. Weasley sighed. "He'll be here in a moment. Really, all of you need to grow more patient or you'll only be disap-" 

"Er, hey guys," a slightly bewildered voice mumbled. 

"Harry!" Immediately all attention was focused on the dark-haired boy near the fireplace. Harry grinned at them, his glasses askew. Almost on cue, Mrs. Weasley came into the room. "Lunch is ready. I- Oh, Harry!" Beaming, Mrs. Weasley moved towards him. "When did you arrive? Never mind, I can see everybody has kept you on your feet this whole time. All of you, shoo. Get some lunch. You too, Harry," Mrs. Weasley said, straightening Harry's glasses and tapping them with her wand. "There," Ron heard her say. "They shouldn't come ajar so easily now." 

_Who needs another son when you have the Great Harry Potter to worry about? _Ron thought, sighing. After all, his mother had had five other sons- no novelty whatsoever could lie in him. Any comfort he might have gotten in being the baby disappeared when Ginny was born- the only girl _and _the youngest. 

And his best friends? The famous Harry Potter and the top of the Gryffindor class. That was the only important thing about him. The famous Best Friend of Harry Potter. Might as well change his name to that. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Instead of Best Friend, people could just call him B.F. B.F. Sounded kind of like the word "Beef" if you said it quickly and softened the F. Maybe he could tell people to call him that instead. Of course, red-meat vegetarians would automatically hate him, but some girls might think the nickname sounded kind of sexy, and- 

"She kissed me," a voice said, cutting off Ron's thoughts. Ron turned to see Harry. 

"Huh?!" Ron said. He couldn't mean Hermione... Right? "Who?" 

"Dudley's girlfriend," Harry said flatly. "Right before I used the floo powder." 

"No way!" Ron laughed. 

"Ooh yeah." 

"Tongue?" 

"Yeah.." Harry made a face. "Ron you git, stop smiling." 

"Was she hot?" 

Harry grinned at this. "Wasn't bad. Not up to par with some of the sixth years, but she was-" 

"Decent," they both said together. Harry grinned again, and so did Ron. 

What had Ron been thinking? He had been so worried about Harry and Hermione being together, he had forgotten that Harry wasn't a 'threat'. Ron Weasley wasn't just Harry Potter's best friend... Harry Potter was Ron Weasley's. 

"Ron! Harry! Are you coming down for lunch, boys?" 

Ron and Harry exchanged glances, both picking up Mrs. Weasley's annoyed tone- a tone that rarely included Harry as it's source. Smirking, both boys hurried to the others. 

~~~ 

"Watch out Harry. If Dudley finds out, he'll sit on you," Fred warned, grinning as he gulped down his drink. Harry had just repeated his story, due to Ron's begging ("They'll get a kick out of it, Harry! Really they will!). 

"What I want to know," George said, shaking his head in puzzlement "is how he could even get a girlfriend." 

"Power," Harry said. "Dursley's friends with the headmaster at Dudley's school, and Dudley practically rules the place. Andrea wanted in." 

Mr. Weasley sighed. "So many are driven by power. That is the way they go about living: Always wanted more." 

"What a sad life that must be," Mrs. Weasley said softly. 

Ron exchanged glances with Harry and the twins. Leave it to parents to ruin a good story. 

"That's horrible, Harry!" Hermione said in shock. "I mean, Dudley is unsuspecting." 

Harry sighed. Leave it to parents... And Hermione. 

"Hermione, that's not the point," Ron persisted, as Mr. and Mrs. Weasley finished eating and left the room. "It's not Harry's fault. _He _wasn't doing the kissing." 

"You've never met Dudley," Harry pointed out to Hermione. 

"She probably feels obligated to be sympathetic," Fred scoffed. He glanced to Hermione. "Don't waste your time, doll." 

"Doll?" 

"It's what he's calling every female that passes his way," George said quickly, before Hermione could get more offended. 

"Every one," Fred added. "Mom didn't like it..." 

George grinned. "Not one bit." 

Both boys chuckled over the memory. Hermione raised an eyebrow to Ron, who shrugged. "Don't mind them," Ron muttered to Harry and Hermione. 

~~~ 

"Ew," Ron said promptly. 

"Indeed," Percy sighed. Charlie would be arriving to visit tomorrow morning, and Mrs. Weasley had ordered Ron, Percy, Fred, George and Ginny to various areas of the house that needed cleaning. Their mother wouldn't hear of Hermione or Harry helping, and the two were practically forced to make themselves of as little use as possible. 

Ron and Percy had been told to clean the attic. 

The attic was a complete disaster area. 

"How did it get like this?" Ron said, glancing down at an open trunk, which contents were spilled onto the floor. The contents consisted of a deck of "Little Miss Witch" cards, an obsession of Ginny's years ago. Oddly enough, these were mixed with old Bertie Botts Beans. 

"Romulus and Remus, I suspect," Percy said, referring to the family's ghosts. "Wreaking havoc on the attic, that's their idea of a game." 

"Where are they anyway?" Ron asked warily. 

"Hiding, probably. Scared of us, ever since Father used the shock-charm on them. Right then," Percy said sharply. "We better get a move on. This place looks terrible." 

Ron skipped his usual sarcastic comment. Although he generally didn't get along well with Percy, he was glad to have company for the heinous chore... The chore which involved spider webs. Spider webs which involved spiders. 

"Ahh!" Ron cried, spotting an unusually large spider near the window sill. He jumped back, falling into Percy. 

"Ron!" Percy snapped. "You must get over this silly little fear of yours. Conquer your fears! That's our motto at work, you know." 

"Yes Percy, I do know," Ron muttered quietly. He had only been told a dozen times. 

"Well, don't just stand there! Clear out the spider web." 

"With what?" 

"Your wand!" 

"Oh..." Feeling dumb, Ron pulled his wand out of his robe pocket and found himself staring dumbly at the spider web. "I don't know the spell." 

Percy sighed and pushed some spider webs aside with his wand. 

"Well gee, Perce, don't get all technical on me," Ron grumbled. 

"Oh, shut up," Percy bristled, and knelt down by some of the old chests, throwing random items back inside of them. "And once you clear the spider webs, clean the window." 

Ron restrained himself from a 'yes, master'. Smart-ass comments were the last thing on his mind as he tentatively prodded at the spider web. The spider quickly skittered away at this, and with an ill-hidden yelp, Ron took another step forward and cleared the web. 

"Ugh," he murmured. "It got stuck to my wand." Disentangling his wand from the spider web, Ron peered forward at the window to judge how dirty it was. To his surprise, it was practically spotless. He was about to turn away to other things, but a second glance out the window caught him off guard. There he could make out Hermione and Harry, sitting together on the Weasley's picnic bench. 

Sitting _together _. 

It means nothing, Ron told himself hurriedly. But he kept watching. 

They were talking. That was all. Ron let out a sigh of relief. _Well what did you expect?_ he asked himself. _A full-blown make out session? _He continued watching, finding some comfort in just looking at Hermione, seeing her smile, watching her give a happy sigh. 

Presently Hermione turned from Harry, whispered something (obviously lumos, as her wand lit up at her words), and opened a book she had brought outside with her. She read it intently by the light of her wand. Harry wasn't even watching her- he was staring up at the sky. 

They were a nice little picture: Two friends sitting near each other, one lost in a book, one lost in thought. A nice picture that wasn't terribly romantic. 

Ron turned from the window and to one of the upside down chests. Sighing, he managed to turn it right side up. Hundreds of photos littered the ground where the chest had laid. Ron began sorting through them, placing the happy smiling people back into the chest. The piles grew high. Charlie catching the snitch in a family game of Quidditch... A toddler version of Fred and George, both giving identical mischievous grins to the photographer... Ginny clutching a doll... 

"Huh," Ron said to himself as he held up one photo to his face. In the picture he, Hermione, and Harry were waving wildly to the camera and grinning. Wrapping paper could be seen in the background, and turning the picture around, Ron saw _Merry Christmas, Mum _scribbled on back. He must have sent it as a greeting. Been too cheap to buy anything. He looked more carefully at the picture. It would have been from when he was a second year, maybe third. 

They were best friends. They still were best friends after all they had been through. Just because they were older now didn't mean that things had to grow romantic between any of them. Harry knew that. Hermione knew that. They didn't need anything more. 

Smiling, Ron placed the photo in the drawer. Mind cleared, he set to work on another tumbled drawer. 

~~~ 

"I believe we're done here," Percy said, scanning over the attic with an annoying look of satisfaction. 

"Yeah, okay," Ron said, rising to his feet and brushing himself off. He was actually feeling happy. The many pictures he had had to sort through had put him in a nice nostalgic haze that softened reality. Plus, they had soothed his mind about his feelings for Hermione. She could be just friends with him, and just friends with Harry. There was no reason she had to be madly in love with either of them, thought Ron as he trudged down the stairs. 

"Woo woo woooo," a voice hooted. Ron turned to see Fred and George looking out the kitchen window. 

"Oh no," Ron groaned as he walked over to them. "Don't tell me you set another joke-store experiment off out there... Did It blow up?" He glanced out the window. 

And saw Hermione and Harry kissing on the picnic bench. 

* * *

**A/N:** Harry/Hermione fans: Enjoy this while you can. R/H people: The sun will come out...tomorroooow. Hermione/Draco people: Sorry, no Draco here. Oh, and sorry about the 2-d role Draco played in that dream... That was just Ron's subconscious speaking, not my personal opinion. Harry/Ron people: In another fic, maybe. Not this one. ;) 

In the next part: Will Ron legally change his name to Beef? How about Mm, Beefy? Find out! AND... Learn what was going on out there on the picnic bench... Chaos and angst ensue. More people confess their eternal love for Bertie Bott's Beans... And more!   
Please don't sue the poor broke child. ^_^ I own none of this, except for Ron's nickname of B.F. ;)


	2. Crushed Hopes and M&M's

### Picturesque

#### Part Two: Crushed Hopes and M&M's

Harry sat on the picnic bench in the Weasley's garden. Dusk had been creeping over the horizon for a good hour, and the sky was now a rich dark blue. He had no idea where Hermione was, and Ron and the other Weasley's were inside, helping to clean the house, which Mrs. Weasley had deemed improper for guests. 

The night air was warm and comforting, crickets chirping faithfully. Even the gnats which ventured to buzz around the picnic table couldn't ruin the perfect scene. 

"Harry?" 

Harry turned, startled out of his earlier state of mind. "Oh. Hermione." 

"Sorry... Did I surprise you?" she asked, a book tucked under her arm. "No... It was just so quiet is all." 

"It's beautiful out," she said, pausing for a moment to inhale the night air. She gave a satisfied sigh. "Ron showed me a hill near his house today... I never knew it was so rustic out here. I like it." 

"Yeah," Harry agreed, feeling like he should say more. "It's a nice change." He glanced to the spot on the bench near him, and Hermione sat down. 

"Were the Dursley's awfully horrible?" she asked solemnly. 

Harry grinned. "No more horrible than usual. They do seem to leave me alone more now. And Dudley's been smuggling chocolates in all sorts of places. Andrea...That's his girlfriend... She found a Hershey's bar hidden amongst her makeup. And Uncle Vernon found _three _packets of M&M's hidden under the carpet by Dudley's bedroom." Harry's grin widened. "He stepped on two of the packets." 

"Are they really as horrible as you tell me they are?" 

"Yes," Harry said without hesitation. Hermione gave him a look of disapproval. "Honestly, they're terrible. But... Well, I feel kind of bad for them. Sometimes." He made a face. "Rarely, actually." 

Hermione tried to give him a strict look, but ended up smiling instead. 

"How've you been then?" Harry asked, secretly relieved to have escaped a lecture. "How's the famous Viktor Krum?" 

Hermione listened to his words carefully. _Harry _didn't say Viktor's name with disgust. The same words coming from Ron would have been full of malice, but Harry was just asking a genuine question. Ron would be immature and jealous. He always was. Ron never would grow up. Ron needed to understand- 

"Er... Hermione?" Harry watched her face. She had become completely lost in her thoughts. 

"Oh. Um. Viktor's fine, I suppose," Hermione said airily. "He's visiting America now. He told me he has almost a hundred autographs signings scheduled over there." 

"You spent well over half the summer with him," Harry said. "You must have gotten to know him a lot better and had a lot of fun. I mean... Personality-wise. Not...um...Not anything else-wise." 

Hermione arched an eyebrow as she watched Harry blush. "Viktor and I broke up," she said cooly. 

"Oh. You did?" 

"Yes, we did." 

Harry fidgeted uncomfortably, wishing he wasn't in this situation. In fact, he would have given almost anything to switch places with Lavender or Parvati at this moment. They'd know what to say. Harry would have offered sympathy, but Hermione didn't look especially ready to receive it. She seemed almost indifferent about the whole matter. 

"Does Ron know?" Harry asked suddenly. 

"Ron?" Hermione looked up sharply. "Ron?" she asked again, more softly. "Why would it be important to him? Why would he care?" 

"Well-" Harry started. 

"He wouldn't care." Hermione interrupted. "And besides, he doesn't deserve to know. He didn't even ask." 

"Maybe he didn't want you to think he cared," Harry said with unusual perceptiveness. 

"That's stupid," Hermione said. "Ron-" she stopped. "How did we even get on the topic of Ron? How does he figure into this? He doesn't." 

"But-" 

"End of conversation," Hermione said shortly. _"Lumos," _she whispered and turned to her book, emerging herself in it. 

Harry watched her form bent over a book for a few moments. Finally he turned his gaze to the sky. Maybe he would find a way to let Ron know that Hermione and Viktor were no longer a couple...as long as he could do so without Hermione knowing. Harry had a feeling that despite what Hermione said, the news _was_ important to Ron. 

Then again, maybe he should keep himself from playing matchmaker and think about his _own_ love life. Big success there. Somehow he didn't feel particularly flattered by Moaning Myrtle's interest in him, and the Yule Ball hadn't been one of Harry's greatest moments. He liked Cho and there was even a possibility that she might like him, but she had just lost Cedric. Harry knew he had to give her time with that. Besides, asking a girl out when she was very likely in despair seemed like a sleazy thing to do. 

So far the girls that liked him the most had been Dudley's girlfriend and Moaning Myrtle. He had a feeling Parvati was more interested in him because he was Harry Potter, not because of Harry Potter. That was how it was with most girls. They liked him because of the famous ring in his name. Harry Potter himself meant little to them. 

_What am I getting so bitter about? _Harry wondered to himself. "Hermione?" he asked suddenly. 

"Mm?" she mumbled, not looking up from the book. 

Harry leaned over and quickly kissed her. 

Hermione stared at him. "Huh?" 

Oh God. That was stupid. He just wanted to validate something... He wanted to know that _someone _would want to kiss him for who he was. Hermione wasn't friends with him for his fame. She knew who he was. Of course, soon she wouldn't be friends with him at all and- 

Hermione kissed him back. Both recovering from surprise the two awkwardly continued their kiss. It was strange, Hermione thought. Instead of forgetting the world around her, she was intensely aware of everything except Harry and herself. She was aware of the darkening sky and the cricket that chirped close to her. She was aware of the light breeze. She was aware of- 

Fred and George watching them from the window. 

"Oh crap," she muttered, pushing Harry away from her quickly. Harry jumped up as he saw Fred and George grinning at them from the window. They both gave Harry thumbs up, then ducked out of view. 

"Um..." Harry paused. "Um." 

"What were you thinking?" Hermione snapped, suddenly angry. 

"What was _I _thinking?!" Harry found his temper flaring easily. Maybe it was because he was flustered. "I wasn't exactly alone in that, you know." He glared at Hermione. 

"You started it." Hermione ignored how childish that sounded and continued. "I was just sitting there reading my book. And suddenly- hey! There's Harry KISSING me. You could have warned me." 

"Why is this all on me? You kissed me back. You were very eager. I guess now that Viktor's not here-" 

"Shut up!" Hermione cried, slamming her book heavily on the picnic table. 

"Or is it Ron you want?" 

Hermione didn't answer. Instead she returned Harry's glare with an even fiercer one, sat down and began reading her book again. 

"You can't escape from reality this time, Herm," Harry said, his voice quiet but hard. "Put down the book." 

Hermione looked up at him before she could stop herself. Harry rarely got so commanding. Or so mean. 

"Fine," she said. She calmly put down her book again. "What do you want to say?" 

Harry stared blankly. 

"Okay then." Hermione reached for her book. 

"Wait... I... We have to deal with, um, this. I mean, it's not something we can shove under the carpet." 

"Why not?" Hermione asked. It was an honest question. 

"Because...Well... Like Dudley's M&M's, sooner or later someone is going to step on it." 

"Real deep," Hermione grumbled, rolling her eyes. 

"Look, I'm sorry that I'm throwing crappy metaphors at you-" 

"It's a simile." 

"Fine!" Harry exploded. "Crappy SIMILES then. I don't really care! I'm trying to tell you that we have to talk and sort this out." 

"And I'm trying to tell you that I don't care to talk to you right now." Hermione gathered up her book and cloak. 

"You can't run away from it." 

"But I can walk away from it, can't I Harry?" 

And she did just that, leaving Harry frowning behind her as she disappeared through the door of The Burrow. 

~~~~ 

Ron lay back on his bed. 

He wanted to throw something. Something really heavy. So heavy it might create a dent in the door. So heavy that when it crashed against the wall everybody in the house would jump and wonder what that noise could be. 

Yeah, they could all take five seconds to confirm that they had heard the noise and wonder some more about it. That would be more attention than he usually got, wouldn't it? And even though after a moment all the residents of The Burrow would continue with their work, those five seconds? They would be _his _. 

Ron knew his thoughts didn't make any sense, but there was something satisfactory in them all the same. 

There was a knocking at the door. "Ron? You in there?" 

Ron sighed. He didn't _have _to answer. 

"Yeah," he said. "Come in." 

Harry opened the door. "Your mum wanted me to tell you she found a better dress robe for you. It's secondhand but hey, it's naturally frilless. You want to go see it?" 

"Later maybe," Ron's voice was emotionless. 

"Okay," Harry said. "Say Ron, d'you know Bill may be stopping by tomorrow too?" 

"Really?" Ron looked up at Harry and smiled sweetly. "Gee Harry, you sure do tell me _everything." _

Harry looked at him strangely for a moment, then slapped his forehead. 

"Oh great... Did Fred and George tell you?" 

"Tell me what Harry? Oh, don't tell me you're expecting a baby already!" 

"Ron, would you stop being an idiot and listen!" 

"Thanks for telling me you had feelings for Hermione by the way. And oh, if it's a boy," he said absentmindedly, ignoring Harry, "name it Ron, will you?" 

"Ron... I don't think Hermione even likes me. Not romantically anyway... And now I'm not even sure she likes me as a friend." 

"Doesn't like you, huh? Could have fooled me." 

"You saw us?" When Harry got no answer he hurriedly continued. "Look Ron, I know you like Hermione or something-" 

"You KNOW?" Ron exploded. "How the hell do you know?" 

"From the way you look at her... Well, the way you look at her whenever you're not biting her head off. Plus, you were obviously jealous at the Yule Ball. And... Uh... I just figured maybe you did." 

"You knew then," Ron said softly. "If you knew, why exactly did you KISS HER?!" 

Harry had been pleased with himself for surprising Ron, who apparently didn't know anyone could guess his feelings for Hermione. However, this feeling of being pleased quickly disappeared when he saw the hurt in Ron's eyes. Harry didn't say anything. 

"You _knew_, Harry. You knew who your _best friend _liked. Yet you still went ahead and got all...all...hot and heavy with her!" 

"Hot and heavy?" 

"Shut up! Way to be loyal, eh, Harry? But then I guess the great Harry Potter doesn't have to worry about little things like that... You know, why should Harry Potter care about being loyal to his best friend, the one who has _always _stuck by him in the long run? The amazing Harry Potter, he doesn't have to worry about-" 

"I'm not just the amazing Harry Potter!" Harry shouted. "Why am I supposed to be perfect?! Why is everything always _my_ fault? I'm not allowed to make mistakes! Why does everyone use my name as either an excuse or something to blame me for?" 

"Poor Harry," Ron said, glaring. "God, WHY must he deal with his fame? Why must he be burdened with the many girls who'd love to date him?" 

"Maybe I don't want all that," Harry said. 

"No? That's funny, because I swear I just saw you kissing Hermione. Hermione, the _one _girl who wasn't all over you. I guess you couldn't take that, could you? Had to prove a point." 

"It... It wasn't about proving a point..." Harry immediately felt guilty as he said that. Hadn't he kissed Hermione to prove a point? Hadn't he wanted to prove that maybe someone could like him for something other than his fame? 

"I think it was," Ron said quietly after a moment, watching Harry's face. 

"Shut your face Ron," Harry snapped, suddenly very angry. "You're just an idiot with a bad temper who hangs around delivering wannabe smart-ass comments. Why would Hermione want you? For your dashing good looks?" 

Ron turned scarlet and bit his lip, glowering at Harry. Harry looked steadily back at him. 

"I'm more than Harry Potter," he said, with a subdued force. "I'm also a fifteen year old boy." 

Harry stepped out of Ron's room and slammed the door. 

~~~ 

Stumbling out of Ron's room, Harry got little satisfaction from the door he slammed. First Hermione, now Ron. 

Harry could even understand where Ron was coming from. He _should _have thought about Ron before he had kissed Hermione, but how was he supposed to know that Ron would be spying on them? _He must trust me an awful lot,_ thought Harry dryly as he began to make his way downstairs. 

He began to approach the kitchen for a drink, but was caught offguard when he caught sight of Fred, George and Hermione. They were seated around the kitchen table. Harry took a deep breath. He couldn't avoid Hermione for the rest of the summer. 

As he walked forward he banged right into someone else, who tumbled to the floor. 

"Oh... Sorry Ginny," Harry said, smiling kindly at her. Ginny had always been nice to him. He held out a hand to help her up. "I guess I'm just distracted." 

But Ginny was looking at him stonily. 

"Watch where you're going," was her angry reply, the last few words ending in a shout. She scrambled to her feet without his help and headed upstairs. 

"Oookay..." muttered Harry. _ This just isn't my day,_ he thought, as he made his way into the kitchen where Fred, George and Hermione sat. 

"Hey, Harry," George said, spotting him. He didn't sound very enthusiastic about it though. 

Hermione stormed out the room. 

Harry sighed. 

* * *

Here ends part two of Picturesque a.k.a The Weasley's Have Too Many Windows. The next part should be longer and sappier. ;) Will Ron chill out with the italics? Will Harry learn the difference between metaphors and similes? Is it Hermione's time of the month or what? And speaking of Harry...will someone EVER give him a break? 

Find out...  
Next time: A slightly unexpected someone comforts Harry, Ron and Hermione get a moment to talk, and find out why Hermione kissed Harry... Besides the fact that he's the Amazing Harry Potter, I mean. ::gets thwapped by Harry:: Oh, and Charlie comes to visit! Yay! Will he bring Bertie Bott's Beans or Chocolate Frogs? Could this pressing issue of Bertie Bott's Beans Vs. Chocolate Frogs further complicated matters? Hmm... 

**Shiny mention o' thanks: ** To Rhi and Rb, who told me if my fic was incoherent ;) and listened to my babblings about how much fun it is to pick on Harry. ::gets thwapped by Harry again::   
Thanks to everybody who reviewed- H/H fans and R/H fans alike!

###### I don't own Harry Potter OR M&Ms, so don't sue the Sad Broke Child. 


	3. Just Out of Reach

### Picturesque

#### Part Three: Just Out of Reach

Morning light poured through Ginny's window in gallons. A bona fide blue sky was there to greet her as she opened her eyes. It was that perfect shade of sky blue, the kind you usually only see in pictures. Normally this would have filled Ginny with optimism, but today she groaned and buried her face in her pillow. 

This was a day where she would even welcome large dark clouds that would cover the sky. She felt like maybe she could relate to them, somehow. Gloomy wasn't always bad. Sighing, Ginny finally removed her face from the pillow. She sat up on the bed, hugging her knees to herself. She glanced over at Hermione, who was also sleeping in her room on a mattress. She was still fast asleep. 

Fred and George had told her what happened between Harry and Hermione. To be honest, she hadn't quite believed them at first. Certainly Harry and Hermione were good friends, but she had seen them together. It didn't _look _ like they had anything more. 

But then later last night she had seen the way Hermione avoided Harry. She had seen the edgy look in Harry's eyes whenever he caught sight of Hermione. 

So it was true. 

But God, hadn't she known deep down inside that it would happen? Maybe Hermione and Harry hadn't shown any signs of being madly in love or whatever, but it was practically preordained. Everybody in Hogwarts expected them to become a couple presently. 

Ginny had been sure that she had almost entirely gotten over her crush on Harry. Yet when she heard that he and Hermione had been seen kissing she had felt a fresh pang of hurt. It wasn't the kind of emotion she would be feeling if she simply viewed Harry as a nice friend. 

And it was also too strong of an emotion to be feeling if Harry was simply a school girl crush of hers.

Ginny mentally scolded herself. She couldn't let her feelings for Harry grow too strong anyway. That would be stupid, and she would only end up more hurt than she had been when she started.

_You know what else is stupid? _ Ginny thought to herself. _ Wallowing in self-pity like this._ She hopped out of bed and began combing her hair in front of her mirror. She really had been too cruel to Harry the night before... 

"Hullo dear," the mirror chirped, hushing her voice slightly as she noticed that Hermione was still sleeping. "Why so glum this morning?"

"I'm wondering why I got out of bed at all," Ginny said, sighing. "Because it's a beautiful day!" the mirror said cheerfully. "No morning rain clouding up _ your_ window!"

Ginny shook her head. "Sometimes beautiful days aren't worth it."

~~~

"Harry?" a voice said softly in his ear. A hand lightly shook his shoulder. 

"Mmph," Harry mumbled, opening his eyes. Mrs. Weasley was looking down at him with concern. 

"Are you alright, Harry?" Mrs. Weasley said worridly.

Immediately yesterday came back to him in a rush. 

Harry sighed and closed his eyes again.

"Harry?" Mrs. Weasley pressed on. 

"Huh?" He opened his eyes once more. "Oh. Yeah. I'm fine." He tried to pack as much sincerity into his words as possible, but it wasn't easy.

Mrs. Weasley gave him a kind but still worried smile. "Are you sure?"

Harry nodded.

"Then... why are you sleeping on the couch?"

Harry quickly sat up. He had forgotten that he had slept down here instead of going up to Ron's room, where he usually slept while staying at The Burrow. He couldn't face Ron again, so he had spent the night on the Weasley's sofa.

"I... I was reading a book," Harry lied. "I guess I must have fallen asleep. Sorry."

"Oh, no, it's no trouble, dear... I just wanted to make sure that you were comfortable." Mrs. Weasley smiled. "Now what book is it, that you read until you fell asleep?"

"Er... That one," Harry said, pointing to a book on the end table next to the couch. Thank God Hermione had left the book she had been reading lying around. 

Mrs. Weasley picked the book up and looked at it. Then she gave Harry a strange look as she read the title.

"Forbidden Passion," she read out loud. Harry caught sight of a shirtless young wizard, who was busy kissing a woman in fine robes. _ Forbidden Passion _ was written in frilly script across the top. 

Harry blushed furiously.

"I never knew you liked this kind of...reading material, Harry." Mrs. Weasley was watching Harry's quickly reddening face with confusion.

"Uh...Yeah. You should read it. Fantastic. It's really... educational." Harry gave what he hoped was a normal looking smile. 

Then he dashed out of the room.

_Guess Hermione isn't reading school books anymore_, Harry thought, and even though he was still red he managed to grin. 

~~~

Hermione glanced over to Ginny's bed. It was empty and already had been neatly made. A clock on Ginny's night stand informed Hermione that it was 9:30 ("It's already half past nine Miss," the clock had told her disapprovingly. "Late to bed, late to riiise." And it had giggled madly, seemingly thinking that this was quite clever.).

Hermione was usually an early riser but last night she couldn't seem to get to sleep. Finally, after mulling over her thoughts for a long time, she must have drifted off, long after Ginny fell asleep. And yet Hermione still noticed circles under her eyes, despite sleeping late. The mirror seemed to notice too.

"You look horrible!" it said brightly.

Hermione must have given the mirror an evil look, because it quickly piped up. "Remember dear, if you break me that's seven years bad luck!" 

Hermione thought back to life as an ordinary muggle, remembering a time when mirrors and alarm clocks _didn't _ deliver "witty" comments whenever they could.

Her mind wandered back to her problems. Why did Harry do that? Why did he have to ruin things for the three of them? He had turned everything into some silly muggle soap opera. The twins must have told Ron about it, and Ron had spent the evening in his room. Why did he do that? Why did he lock himself up like a hermit?

Why would Ron care?

Why should she care why Ron would care?

Hermione rubbed her temples. Here she was, top student in the year, getting a headache over something like _this_. 

Maybe she would write Viktor. Things were still fine between them, in spite of the their breakup. When they had broken up it hadn't been a passionate and heart wrenching thing, and their relationship had never been a passionate and heart wrenching thing either. 

They had had a good time together, but when it came time for Hermione to go they had almost reached an unspoken agreement that they shouldn't remain a couple. They would barely see each other the next year and Hermione would rather just have a friendship with Viktor, without the awkward romantic intervals. Viktor apparently felt the same way.

It was remarkably unemotional. In fact, her whole relationship with Viktor Krum had left her feeling empty. He was also kind of... _old_... Hermione was awfully mature, but sometimes easily managed to feel young and inexperienced around Viktor.

But they were still friends. He was interesting to talk to. And he didn't hate her. That was a huge plus, considering how the rest of her relationships were going.

_ Dear Viktor,_ she scribbled._ How are things? How's America? Is it really as polluted as it looks to be in the papers?_

I'm spending the rest of the summer with Ron Weasley and his family. Harry Potter is also here.

Viktor, remember how you said you were jealous of Harry during the tournament? You were jealous of how I put his well-being as first priority and your's as second. Then you told me you were sure Harry liked me or that I liked him, and of course I told you that wasn't true.

Well, last night Harry kissed me. 

Hermione frowned. No, that was no good. She crossed it out and went back to her letter. Several more ideas got crossed out as well. _ Well, last night Harry kissed me... was talking to me...  expressed his feelings for me.. stood on his head and played an accordion while singing to a Swiss Penguin. _

Crumpling up the letter, Hermione through it over her shoulder. It skittered lightly across the floor.

"Slob!" a voice said. Hermione turned and realized it was the small garbage bin by Ginny's door. 

"Put that letter where it belongs. Only trash don't throw out trash!" There was a light chuckle.

"Good one," remarked the alarm clock.

Sighing, Hermione placed the letter neatly into the trash bin.

~~~

"Charlie!" Ginny said, flying out into the yard where her older brother had just apparated. She ran up to him and he picked her up and swung her around, like he did when she was younger. The scene would have looked corny had it been anyone else, but everything about it was so genuine that the thought never crossed anyone's mind. Not even the twins, who quickly came trampling out to meet him. Ron followed them. He didn't look to be in the best of moods, but he gave Charlie a quick smile of greeting. 

Mr. Weasley was at work. After greeting Mrs. Weasley (who fussed over a bad burn of Charlie's quite a bit), Charlie glanced around.

"Ah, but where's my _favorite_ brother?" 

"PERCY!" Mrs. Weasley called. "CHARLIE'S HOME!"

After a minute Percy came out and stiffly stuck out his hand for Charlie to shake. Charlie simply grinned and gave Percy a bear hug instead, followed by a light punch in the shoulder. 

Grumbling, Percy rubbed his shoulder. 

"Right then," Charlie said, after the greetings were over. "Where's Harry? Hermione?"

Ron went inside without another word.

Charlie shrugged. Ginny figured he knew his temperamental brother well enough to let him alone.

"Harry is inside," Mrs. Weasley said. "He hasn't been feeling well. Perhaps he's come down with something." She furrowed her brow in concern. "And Hermione is still upstairs, I believe." 

"I hope she's not still sleeping," Ginny murmured, more to herself than the rest.

"Oh, let the girl get some rest," George said, grinning.

"She had a _ very_ busy night," Fred agreed. Both boys snickered.

"What in the world are you two talking about?" Mrs. Weasley asked.

"Erm, nothing Mum," Ginny said quickly, before Fred or George could jump in with a comment. "They're just babbling... As usual." Smiling sweetly to her mother, and giving a look of poison to the twins, Ginny and the family headed into the house through the kitchen door.

"Did you bring any Chocolate Frogs?" Ginny asked hopefully.

"Of course," Charlie said as they reached the kitchen table. He reached into his pockets and dumped handfuls of them on the table. Beaming, Ginny grabbed some. 

"Pity," Percy said, sighing, and temporarily forgetting to wince and rub his shoulder. "I was really hoping for Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans. Chocolate Frogs... It's so childish. Now Bertie Bott's Beans are more sophisticated. You really shouldn't be getting Ginny chocolate Frogs, Charlie. You should encourage her to act her age."

"Chocolate Frogs, Bertie Bott's..." Fred scoffed. "You guys should try some of the stuff _we've_ been making."

"You don't even know what you're missing," George said.

"Don't feel like turning into a moth today, _thank_you." Percy, of course.

"Aw, but Perce, you're our best target...Er, I mean customer." Fred smirked.

"I brought both," Charlie said quickly, before the twins and Percy could engage in a strong argument. He reached into his pockets again and brought out a handful of Bertie Bott's beans.

Fred and George looked at the candy with disgust. "C'mon Fred," George said. "Let's go work on some of _our_ inventions."

They hurried upstairs into their room. An explosion was heard moments later, but everyone had grown immune to the noise by now.

Ginny sat down and nibbled thoughtfully at a Chocolate Frog. Her mother had thought Harry was ill, but Ginny was sure this wasn't the case. Still, he must be feeling horrible. Ron was probably furious at him, and Hermione stalked off everytime he entered a room. 

_ And I haven't really been helping matters,_ Ginny thought to herself. She had been cold to Harry the day before... Maybe this wasn't his fault.

Or maybe it was.

Either way, she shouldn't have acted like that. He had been feeling bad enough as it was, Ginny was sure. 

Determinedly, Ginny stood up, snatching a chocolate frog. 

Percy popped one of the beans into his mouth and made a face.

"Bad flavor?" Ginny said, sympathetically.

"Chocolate Frog flavored," Percy replied.

~~~

"PERCY!" Hermione heard Mrs. Weasley shout. "CHARLIE'S HOME!"

Was it that late? She had meant to go downstairs to meet Charlie when he came to The Burrow, Hermione proceeded downstairs and opened the front door a crack, but the happy family scene that greeted her seemed too meaningful for her to intrude on. She was a family friend, a close family friend even. But Hermione wasn't family, and she certainly wasn't going to try and act like she was.

She turned very suddenly at footsteps and saw Harry behind her, his gaze falling on the hugging going on outside. The laughter could be heard even from in here. Charlie playfully punched Percy in the shoulder, and Ron's laughter stood out particularly to Hermione. 

"Stupid git," Harry said, almost to himself, watching the scene outside, eyes frustrated. "Doesn't know how lucky he is." 

Then Harry turned away and returned to the backyard. Hermione watched him go, confused. It was the only words he had said to her since they had fought last night. Hermione was sure he was talking about Ron, and her eyes traveled back to Weasleys. Harry had never had that sort of family when he had been younger. 

Analyze and puzzle over it later, Hermione told herself sternly. Quietly she began to head up the stairs. 

"Forbidden Passions, eh?" a voice said loftily before she had gotten five steps. Hermione turned and saw Ron standing below her. He was studying a book with interest. Hermione blushed- it was the one she had been reading for the last two days. At least the book's soap opera wasn't real.

"What right do you have to touch _my_ belongings?" Hermione demanded, trying to allow anger to overcome her embarrassment. "Put that down _this instant._" She stampeded down the stairs, running towards the book. She began to snatch it out of Ron's hands, but he easily lifted it out of her reach and darted behind the sofa, grinning. 

Ron peered at the cover. "It's actually kinda interesting," Ron said seriously, although his eyes betrayed his hidden laughter. He watched the witch and wizard "They're really going at it, aren't they?" His eyes widened. "My God, is he taking off her-" 

"Ron Weasley, you give that back!" Hermione shouted, also darting behind the sofa. What a stupid way for Ron to try and get back at her for kissing Harry.

Ron tauntingly held Hermione's book just out of her reach. Hermione grabbed hold of the arm holding the book. She pulled Ron's arm down towards her, trying to get the book in her reach.

Unfortunately, she pulled Ron's arm down with such force that he fell forward and she tumbled backwards. Together the two fell against the back of the sofa.

Hermione's hand remained wrapped around Ron's wrist. Now the book rested at his side, but Hermione made no sudden moves to get at it. She could feel her heart beating rapidly, and she wasn't quite sure whether it was from trying to get the book or...

But that wasn't worth thinking about, was it? All that mattered was that she was here, and Ron was here. His eyes were looking at her intently. They were soft, like they had been up on the hill. His lips were slightly parted and he was breathing very slowly. 

He reached a hand up to brush a few stray strands of hair out of Hermione's face, leaning in closer to her. 

~~~~ 

Harry was in the backyard. He had his chin in his palm and a tired look on his face.

"Harry?" Ginny said tentatively. 

Harry glanced up at the small redhead approaching him. "I don't feel like being shouted at right now, thanks."

"I-"

"It gets old rather quickly."

"Harry, I-"

"I mean, it's not like I did anything to _you._ I was just being an idiot."

"I see. Sort of like you're being now?"

Harry stared at her for a second. Then he grinned. "Sorry."

"So am I... Er, I mean I came to apologize. I'm sorry I shouted at you. You didn't deserve it."

Harry continued to watch her in surprise. 

"Oh, and here," Ginny held out the Chocolate Frog she had taken from the kitchen table. "It's my peace offering."

Harry took the chocolate frog from her hand. "Thanks," he said, the word slightly muffled as he popped it into his mouth. He finished it and the hint of a smile appeared on his face. "I love Chocolate Frogs."

"I know," Ginny said without thinking, watching him.

"Huh?"

"Erm, uh, I mean I know, they're great, aren't they?" She grinned widely. She decided it would be best to leave out the details about how she used to observe everything about Harry a couple of years ago. Once, when she was bored, she had even written a whole list of Harry's favorite things.

But of course, that was years ago. 

Yep.

Harry paused a moment to chew and swallow the Chocolate Frog before he looked up at Ginny. She was looking back at him, her eyes uncertain.

"Thanks, Ginny," Harry said, watching her face. 

"Yeah," she replied. "Sure. I... Sure." She paused. "Uh, Charlie's home."

"I heard." Harry smiled.

"Mum sure can shout, huh?" 

"So...How is Charlie?"

"Oh, he's fine."

Conversation lapsed. 

"Well...Um...Bye." Ginny headed towards the door after a few snail-trodding long moments. But something made her turn back to Harry. "Don't worry about Ron," she said. "I mean...He gets angry easily but usually he can cool off easily too." 

"You know that's not true," Harry said. 

Ginny sighed. "Well...I mean, he can hold a grudge forever-"

"Don't I know it," Harry mumbled.

"-but in his heart he forgives long before he let's on."

"Yeah, well, I wish he wouldn't be so stubborn. Sometimes I think he'd be better off with a Joe Average as a best friend." 

"You moron," Ginny said, staring at him incredulously. "Ron would never want that."

"He sure acts like he wants that."

"Harry, Ron gets bored stiff with Joe Average types with no sense of humor." Somehow, in trying to convince Harry how completely _wrong_ he was, Ginny had lost some of her awkwardness.

"Maybe his being bored is better than him flying into a rage at me."

Ginny rolled her eyes. "You two are best friends. That doesn't mean things have to be a _Leave it to Beaver_ kind of friendship all the time."

"How do you know about Leave it to Beaver?"

Ginny looked down guiltily. "Well...Dad has a muggle TV in the basement...You know, for his muggle studies. And sometimes, when I'm bored..." She trailed off.

Harry laughed. 

"It's a kind of lame way to rebel against society, I know," Ginny said grinning, encouraged. 

Harry shook his head. "I used to do the same thing. Dudley had at least five TVs, and sometimes I'd take the smallest one into my...er, cupboard. He never missed it."

Ginny smiled to herself. "Fred and George told me about him. He sounds like a monster."

"A very fat, very dumb monster, yes." Harry grinned.

"Sounds about right," Ginny agreed.

The two laughed again. 

"Wow, it's almost noon," Ginny said, glancing up at the sky.

Harry nodded. He had guessed by the way the sun was shining softly but more brightly against Ginny's hair. It was kind of nice, Harry thought, when Ginny was smiling and laughing with him. Very nice, when compared to how she usually stared and made him feel uncomfortable. She should really smile more often.

"Hey, Ginny-" Harry began, and Ginny couldn't help but realize that his tone was much different from how it had been before. Her eyes settled on him.

"Yeah?" 

Fred and George barged through the backyard's door. "You two will _never_ believe what we just saw!" Fred said, shaking his head in disbelief. 

~~~

** Here ends** Part 3 of Picturesque a.k.a Is Hermione Reading Trashy Novels? 

Oh, yes, if you noticed a quote anywhere from one of the singer **Dido's** songs, please reply in your review with the line from the song and the name of the song..If anyone gets it, the 1st person get's a...surprise! But to get it, you have to leave your email. Yep.

**Next time:** What *did* Fred and George see? Hmm. Will Hermione and Ron sort of their feelings? Will Harry and Ginny discover the joys of TV Land? ;) And most importantly...Will those two people on Hermione's book _ever_ stop making out? Find out...  
Oh! And there'll be MORE Charlie! Yaaay.. Thanks to all who reviewed.

###### I do not own Harry Potter or Leave it to Beaver (thank god..) so please don't sue the Sad Broke Child. 


	4. Flying Shoes

##### **A/N:** If it's not much trouble, I'd really appreciate people going back and reviewing Chapter 3, since reviews weren't working when I put it up. Feedback helps me a lot with all of my writing, and I like to know what works (and what doesn't!). So please tell me your thoughts for Chapter 3, if you have a few spare seconds. Thanks! 

* * *

### 

Picturesque

#### Part Four: Flying Shoes

Hermione felt her heartbeat quicken as she leaned into Ron. It was her only reminder that she was still there, still conscious. Her mind felt oddly still- it was usually racing no matter what. But now it was peaceful. That was all she knew. That was all she wanted to know. This was the kind of thing that could be spoiled by over-thinking. 

He also leaned in closer. They were going to kiss, a distant voice told Hermione. But those words hardly seemed to calculate. 

Suddenly she heard footsteps. Ron must have heard them too, as his eyes widened. She was suddenly brought back to reality, and she could imagine clearly how this must look. One arm was slipped around Ron's neck and lightly tangled in his hair. The other grasped his wrist. Ron was pressed against her, and she was pressed against the couch. 

Not exactly a platonic looking situation.

The two quickly disentangled. Fred and George were staring at them openmouthed from the doorway. For once, both twins seemed at a loss for words. 

"So," George said finally, darting a look to Fred. "What are you two doing?"

Hermione and Ron, who were still standing quite close together, jumped even further apart.

"N-n-nothing," Hermione stammered.

"N-n-nothing," Ron echoed. He had a deer in the headlights look.

Fred and George continued to stare at them. Hermione wasn't exactly the stammering type. 

Hermione pointed lamely at Ron. "He was trying to take my book..." 

Fred arched an eyebrow to George. "Oi, George, is book the new word for virginity now?"

George seemed to be trying very hard to stifle a laugh. 

Ron had gone bright red. 

And both he and Hermione ran up the stairs, not daring to look at each other. 

~~~

Ginny pretended not to notice that she felt Harry's eyes on her. Instead, she became very interested in a beetle crawling on a fallen leaf. She was actually feeling like she and Harry were...equals maybe? Instead of being a little sister type, they were talking like...

_Friends_, she told herself. _ Harry is being nice. Friendship doesn't mean...It's not..._ She found herself unable to bear her thoughts, and went back to studying the beetle. 

"Hey, Ginny-" Harry began. Noticing his change in tone she looked up quickly.

"Yeah?" she said, trying not to sound hopeful. 

Fred and George barged through the backyard's door. 

"You two will never believe what we just saw!" Fred said, shaking his head in disbelief. 

"And we don't _care_ what you just saw either," Ginny snapped, angry that they had interrupted her and Harry.

"'Course you do," George said, giving her a winning smile which she couldn't help returning.

"Just because we interrupted you and your famous crush-" Fred stopped, realizing he had gone too far as Ginny gave him an 'if looks could kill' glare. 

Now Harry seemed to be the one very interested in the beetle. Ginny didn't feel like much of an equal anymore. She was back to that annoying little sister.

"Anyway," Fred said quickly, after a moment where all were uncomfortable, "you won't believe what we saw."

"Ron and Hermione were...well, let's just say it looked like they were about to follow in the footsteps of that book Herm was reading."

Harry looked up sharply. "What?"

"Forbidden Passions," Fred said. "Looked like they were experiencing quite a bit of that." 

"Were they kissing?" Ginny asked with interest. 

"No Ginny," Harry snapped. "They were playing Quidditch."

Ginny looked down. "Sorry," Harry mumbled. "Actually," George said, "they weren't kissing."

"They were about to though!"

"Then they saw us."

"And they looked like they wanted to kill us."

"And each other."

"Sort of like you and Angelina did."

"Shut up George."

"Caught them in the exact same position one time when I walked into the common room."

"Shut up George."

"Except the passion didn't seem forbidden at all."

"Would you shut up?"

Harry and Ginny stared. 

~~~~

Ron ran a hand through his hair in frustration. In fact, he was so frustrated that his hair ended up standing almost straight up.

Hermione giggled before she could stop herself.

"What?!" Ron demanded anxiously. God, what had he done now?

"Oh Ron," Hermione sighed, and reached out a hand to pat his hair down. Then she paused and withdrew her hand. They both looked at the floor.

_She's messing with my mind._ Ron thought. She had to be! He couldn't seem to think of anything to say or even anything to yell.

"Give me my book back," Hermione said sharply after a moment. 

"What?" Ron sputtered. This was the last thing he had expected to hear. 

"You heard me," Hermione said. "Give me my book." 

"You- you... You're cheating on your Vicky and practically cheating on _Harry_, and all you can ask for is your bloody book?!"

Hermione bristled. "I'm not cheating on _anybody_! All I...It's just.." She paused. 

"Rita Skeeter had it right the first time, didn't she?"

"What are you saying?!"

"Gee, Herm. You're the top of the class, why don't _you_ figure it out?" 

"Shut up! You have know idea what you're talking about, Ron."

"Yes, I do!"

"You don't have _one_ clue in that dull little head of yours. You don't know anything about my relationship with Viktor... Or with Harry." She tilted her head at him. "In fact...you're still mad at me for kissing Harry, aren't you?!" 

Ron glared. 

"You are!" Hermione said triumphantly. "You haven't forgiven me."

"No, Hermione, I haven't," Ron said finally. His voice was cold. "I never knew you were this...this power hungry. You're as bad as Dudley's girlfriend."

"Ron-"

"No. You are. But why me, eh? Ron Weasley, yeah, he has power. A poor wizard, not particularly smart, no wonderful skills. Oh! I've got it!"

"Would you-"

"It's my amazing chess skills you're after, isn't it?" Ron said dryly, his voice cruelly sarcastic. "Being good at chess, well you can't get any sexier than _that_."

"Yes Ron. You're dead sexy." Hermione's tone was just as sarcastic as Ron's. "Now will you let me talk?" 

"No," Ron said flatly. 

"Yes, you will. It's the thing with Harry that's really bothering you, isn't it? You feel like you're going to be left out in the cold...That all our attention will go to eachother."

Ron stared. How much more _wrong_ could she be?

"And..." Off Ron's look of disbelief Hermione faltered. "And you...you always fight for attention at home so that...And..."

"Hermione, you're an idiot," Ron said.

"So are you," she said. "But yeah, that was stupid."

Ron smirked. "Hermione admitting that she got something wrong? Should I alert the press or d'you want to do the honors?"

"Ron, I don't like Harry!" Hermione said desperately, the words spilling quickly out of her mouth. "I kissed him because that's what everyone has _expected_ me to do. I'm supposed to be madly in love with Harry. Viktor expects me to be. Your family expects me to be. Hell, almost all of Hogwarts expects me to be." Ron blinked, as Hermione rarely cursed.

"But guess what Ron? I'm _not_. I can't help it! You can't learn to love someone. Not even from a book like that." (She gestured towards her book, which Ron was holding). "But what would _you_ do? Everyone expects you to be with someone and you just can't, but you know you're supposed to and... when that person kisses you... Well, I did what I was supposed to do, didn't I?" She paused. "I know you, Ron. You were expecting it too." 

"Er...Not fully," Ron managed to say, after this monologue. "You're still with Krum."

Hermione bit her lip and said nothing. 

"Aren't you?" Ron said, looking at her in surprise. Hermione began to walk away into Ginny's room. 

"Hermione, _aren't you?"_ he repeated, stopping her.

"Goodness, Ron!" Hermione spat. "I don't want Viktor, I don't want Harry, I want _you_."

And she marched into Ginny's room, closing the door in Ron's face. 

~~~

Ginny laughed. Harry, Fred, George and her were all lounged out on various chairs in the Weasley's backyard. 

She giggled again. George continued his tale of his finding Fred and Angelina. He was quite eager to embarrass Fred. 

"Right, so it was very quiet. Night of the Yule Ball. I had just said goodbye to Alicia-"

"You went with Alicia Spinnet?" Harry asked.

He nodded impatiently and went on with his story. "Anyway, it was all very quiet. Most everyone had gone upstairs by then, but me and Alicia had stayed out late, because we were...talking." Harry made a sound of disbelief. "She's a very interesting girl, Alicia is... But, as I was saying, I came up late. Fred had gone upstairs long before. Said he was _ tired._"

"I _was_... Tired of the ball, maybe."

"Clever. So I go up to the common room and it's mostly quiet, so I think, well gee, everyone must be asleep."

Harry had a feeling he knew where this was heading.

"So," George continued, dragging the story on as long as possible, "I swagger in-"

"You swaggered?" Ginny snorted.

"Yes Ginny. I was swaggering. There is nothing wrong with swaggering. So I _swagger_ in, and there's Angelina and our boy Fred, right there, together in one of those big common room chairs and-"

"No details, puh-lease," Ginny groaned.

"Oh, fine," George grumbled, and Fred looked relieved.

"Anyway, I saw them and Angelina knocked Fred away and started cursing at me, and in mid-curse she took off one of her shoes and threw it at me."

"What?" Harry said, grinning. 

"It was one of those huge heel-y shoes too. Hit the side of my head. And those things are heavy!" 

Fred laughed. "George had a huge bruise...He changed his hair to cover it up." Fred smiled distantly to himself. "God, I miss Angelina." This statement was immediately followed by him blushing as he realized he had said this out loud. 

"A match made in heaven, yeah," Harry said shaking his head. "Throwing shoes at your brother..."

"Too bad it wasn't Percy," Fred said sadly.

"Too bad _what_ wasn't Percy?" Percy said, coming out to the backyard. "Nevermind," he added quickly, seeing the look on the twins' faces. "I'm sure it's not something I'd want to bother with. Lunch is about ready. Mum needs some help and since none of _you_ seem to be making yourself useful, go help prepare lunch. Then set the table." 

"All four of us setting the table?" Fred asked, sounding appalled. "Gee, d'ya think we can handle it?"

"No, I don't," Percy said flatly and went inside.

~~~

Ron stared at the door in front of his face.

Hermione was insane.

That was all there was to it. 

He felt a mix of surprise and anger, but mostly he felt confusion. What was going on? Angrily he raised a fist to bang on the door that Hermione was behind. He paused and held back. If Hermione opened the door, what would he ever say? 

Even if it was possible for him to get any words out in front of her, he was sure they'd be idiotic. Ron winced at the possibilities. He'd likely say something so stupid that Hermione would shut the door in his face again. Then she'd probably go off and make out with some world-famous hero who was also a world-famous Quidditch player and was also top of all his classes and was wealthy and handsome and probably everything she had ever hoped for. 

Hermione seemed to like those types.

_But she said she wanted you_, a small voice bugged at him. 

Ron kicked a wall.

He hoped Hermione could hear him.

Mrs. Weasley surely could, as she called up to see if everything was all right. Ron didn't answer. Instead he felt drained, as he tiredly walked down the stairs. He headed toward the backyard but found Ginny and Harry sitting comfortably there, chatting idly. He could hear Fred and George in the kitchen. No way he was going in _there_. They had seen him and Hermione.

...And had interrupted them.

They would have kissed. Ron had known that they were about to, even if he didn't consciously think it. Knowing that made it all more complicated and frustrating. It also further convinced him of the fact that Hermione was insane. 

But then, he had already come to that conclusion.

Angrily, Ron kicked the wall again. 

"Erm...Ron?"

Ron turned to see Harry standing behind him. 

"Oh... Didn't hear you come in."

"Yeah, you seemed a little...distracted at the time." Harry looked pointedly at the dent Ron had created in the wall. 

Ron gazed at the dent with satisfaction.

"Are you still...uh...hating me?" Harry asked awkwardly. 

"I don't bloody hate you," Ron said, his tone of voice taking any sentimentality right out of that statement. 

Harry barked a laugh. "That little lecture you gave though, that was really something." He looked at Ron, and his face was calm but his eyes concealed poorly hidden anger. "It was impressive, of course. But Ron," Harry paused. "You don't have a clue what you're talking about."

Ron winced. That was the second time he had been told that today. He couldn't seem to find words to say, and that too, was the second time today. He was too tired, too sick of everything to get in another argument with Harry. They would only go in circles, and besides, his anger at Hermione, at everyone... He was too drained to do much. 

"So...You and Hermone...I, er..." Harry grinned. "Well, it seems like you two have made up..."

"What?!" Ron sputtered. "Fred and George," he realized a moment later, letting out a heavy sigh. "Of course."

"So were you?"

Ron felt his ears turning red. "Were we what?"

Harry didn't say anything, but a faintly piqued eyebrow of his said all that Harry could have said.

"NO!" Ron said. "Why are you taking Fred and George's word? This is FRED and GEORGE, we're talking about. After knowing them for years, I would think you would have figured out-"

"I'm wondering," Harry said, interrupting Ron (who had been flailing his arms desperately during this speech), "whether you're turning bright red because you're embarrassed that Fred and George would imply something like that...or because you _want_ something to happen between you and Hermione... Or," Harry paused, for a dramatic effect that almost made Ron laugh, "because something _already_ has happened between you and Hermione."

"Find out next week, on Passions," Ron mumbled, quickly pretending he hadn't said anything at all. Damn Ginny for getting him into those American soap operas. 

Harry rolled his eyes. 

"I... I guess it's combination of all those things," Ron finally admitted. He went noticeably redder. "Harry, I think that... that I really _do_ sort of like her." He paused. "Besides the fact that she is incredibly INSANE." 

"Besides that, yeah," Harry agreed, with a little too much sincerity. 

Ron grinned. One way or another, admitting this to Harry had resulted in Ron completely forgiving him. It was a huge burden off of him, and he had a feeling that if he tried to kick in a wall now, he wouldn't be nearly so successful as he had been a few minutes ago. 

Just the same, Ron glanced at Harry with a slightly nervous look. "You aren't... madly in love with her then?"

"Well..." Harry paused and gave Ron a look of wide-eyed innocence. "Iduno. She was an awfully good kisser."

"What?!"

"Kidding... Kidding... Er, I mean, not that she was bad. Just..." Harry could feel himself sinking deeper into this. "The, uh, sparks. They just weren't there." Harry gave Ron an encouraging smile. "You and Hermione have lots of sparks. Of course, you guys usually use them to get in arguements... But sparks are sparks." 

Ron blinked.

"I should just stop talking, shouldn't I?" Harry said. 

"Not a bad idea," Ron agreed. They were silent for a moment. Then he turned to Harry. "Harry...didn't you feel a little...well, _guilty_ when you kissed Hermione?"

"Guilty!" Harry laughed. "It was beyond the mere word of 'guilty'. The whole time after I could only think about how horrible I was to do that when I good as knew you liked her. I mean, the guilt was coming in pounds and gallons. I've never felt so guilty. It was terri-"

Ron sighed impatiently. "Would you shut up? Stop trying to make me feel better. I didn't mean did you feel guilty about what I would think." Ron shook his head. "I mean, didn't you even feel a shred of guilt when you remembered our favorite Bulgarian buddy?" 

"Krum?" Harry sounded surprised. "Not really." 

Ron blinked. "You weren't intimidated? I mean, Famous Harry Potter or not-" Harry gave him a glare at the word 'famous' and Ron skipped that train of thought. "Well think about it... You Vs. Krum? I'm sorry Harry, but he would kick your ass." 

"Thanks for the faith," Harry said drily. "But Krum wasn't really in the picture, and he wasn't the main thing on my mind when I was kissing her... It'd be kind of disturbing if he _was_, don't you think?" Harry grinned. 

"What do you mean?" Ron said, ignoring the rest of what Harry said. "What do you mean Krum wasn't in the picture?"

Harry was silent. He had forgotten that Hermione hadn't exactly wanted Ron to know.

"Harry, my wall-kicking self is reemerging here," Ron warned. "_What do you mean?"_

Harry sighed. "Hermione and Krum had broken up."

Ron stared.

"Early this summer. Hermione told me," Harry added quickly, as Ron looked like he was about ready to shake the information out. 

"Why didn't she tell me?" Ron said, half to himself. Harry decided it was best not to tell him the truth: that Hermione didn't want him to know. 

"Dunno," he said instead. 

"I don't understand it."

"Maybe the experience was uh, too painful for her to share with you."

Ron gave Harry a pitying look. "That," he said, "is the most pathetic excuse I have ever heard."

Harry gave a tired sigh. "I'm doing my best." He watched Ron pace for a minute or so and shook his head. "Would you get a grip Ron?" he shouted without malice. "The only way you're going to find out why is if you go up there and ask her yourself!"

"Inspiring," Ron commented. "Or I could just get Ginny to go upstairs and find out and come back and tell me what Hermione said and then tell me if-"

"Ron!"

"Fine, fine," he muttered. "I'm going." 

~~~

_Bang bang bang_

Hermione glanced up, startled. She was unsure whether the loud sound was Ron kicking in a wall again or her door. The muffled "Open the bloody door," was hint enough however. 

_ If I was less mature woman,_ Hermione thought, ignoring the fact that she was barely 15, _I would never answer. I would just let him keep knocking until he gets sick of it. I would get a cruel satisfaction from knowing that he was out there, wanting to see me, but he couldn't. I'd be happy to let him see how it feels to be simply ignored. _ Hermione sat on her bed and listened to Ron knock for another minute or so. Cruel satisfaction really wasn't that bad....

"Oh, don't be silly," she told herself, rising from the bed. After darting a quick look around the room to make sure no random object would start cracking jokes, she opened the door.

Ron looked surprised when his fist hit air. He was panting slightly from banging on the door with such force for so long. His cheeks were flushed. 

Not a bad look.

"Her-" he took a breath "my-" He took another "oh-"

"Yes, I get it, you're trying to say my name," Hermione snapped. 

"Okay...Wait..Give me a moment." Ron rested against the doorway for a moment, admiring the way Hermione's eyes were glittering impatiently.

"You do realize," she said, "that I could slam this door in your face right now?"

"I'd probably get a broken nose," he said. "Wouldn't be half the sexy chess-player I am now."

"A real loss to the world."

Ron cast a glance at her. She usually wasn't quite this cruel to him. Then he recalled the things he had said to her earlier..

But Hermione hadn't exactly been all that nice either. 

And she had lied to him. Lied to him about-

"Krum."

"What?" Hermione said, startled. 

"Why didn't you tell me, Hermione?" Ron said. He was trying, with great difficulty, to keep his voice level. Self-control wasn't quite a talent of his. 

"Tell you what?" she asked, trying to sound clueless.

Ron fixed her with a piercing look. Somehow it hurt much worse than any of his scathing remarks.

"I had no need to tell you," Hermione said defensively. "It was none of your business."

"You lead me on to think that you two are still the picture-perfect couple! Why?"

"It's very simple, Ron. I didn't. I didn't lead you on at all."

"Oh, sure." Ron glared. " 'Just because I've been having a wonderful summer doesn't mean you have to be jealous !'" Ron said, his voice high-pitched. Hermione winced as she recognized her own words. 'Why you know that I've spent most of the summer with Viktor.' 'Oh, Ron, Krum's house is simply beautiful and la-dee-freakin-da I'm having a grand ole time!'"

"I never said _that_."

"It was just a little bit of improv. Nice touch, eh?"

"Beautiful. And I _did_ have a wonderful summer... That doesn't mean I spent it as Viktor's girlfriend." 

"You lied to me, then!"

"I did not!"

"Fine, you covered up the truth with a load of crap."

"Honestly Ron." Hermione gave an exasperated sigh. 

"Yeah, honestly. God forbid I be pissed that you were _lying_ to me."

"You brought this upon yourself, you know," Hermione said coolly. A little too coolly, Ron thought. She was getting angry now. 

"Stop talking to me as if I were a little child." Ron glowered at her.

"You're acting like a little child," Hermione retorted. 

"You're being so...so..."

"Patronizing?"

"Bitchy was more the word I was looking for."

"I don't need to hear this." Hermione took a step back into Ginny's room, reaching for the door. Ron grabbed her arm, gently and firmly whirling her back into the hallway.

"Why'd you do it, Herm?" he asked, his voice icy but low. "Did you want to make me jealous? Thought you'd have a little fun?"

"Oh yes," she replied, glaring. "This is all about messing with your mind Ron. That's all my whole life is about, you know, trying to mess with your mind!"

"It sure seems like it sometimes."

"Has it ever occurred to you that perhaps _I_ felt as confused as you do about what I think? Maybe everything doesn't revolve around you, Ron, have you thought about that?!"

"_This_ does," he answered with conviction. "This doesn't involve Viktor or Harry or anyone else. It's only about you and me."

"You and I."

"Keep correcting my grammar and there's not going to be any 'you and I' left to deal with."

"That threat makes absolutely no sense at all."

"Dammit, Hermione! This isn't about making sense. Would you _get that through your thick skull?_"

"Are you going to kick a wall again?"

"I'm going to be kicking a lot more than walls soon."

Hermione sighed and threw up her hands. "What would you like me to say? We were going to kiss, earlier, I won't deny it. You must have thought it." 

"That's right," Ron said. "My very thought was 'Gee, this would be a dern good time to kiss Hermione, dontcha think, raging hormones?' Don't be a moron! I didn't plan any of this!" 

"Well I didn't either!" she shouted, and to Ron's alarm tears were forming in her eyes. Still, he couldn't bring himself to back down now. 

"It seems like you did. Kissing Harry, going on and on about how great Viktor was... What were you playing at? Why won't you tell me?!" 

"You've been nothing but a complete jerk about Viktor. You didn't deserve to know." She stepped closer, although the action wasn't nearly as menacing as she had meant it to be. "How can you be selfish enough to think that you deserve to be my confidant in _any_ way? Because let me tell you now, you have done nothing to earn my confidence or trust." 

Ron had gone quite red. "What have I done? I've made you laugh, I've listened to you complain, I've cheered you up when you're depressed, I've defended you... And I am _not_ a complete jerk," he added as an afterthought, his eyes blazing. 

Hermione had also gone red with rage. 

"You, Ron Weasley," she said, with an impressive certainty, "are a complete jerk."

Her cheeks flushed, she reached out to shove him out of her way, yet ended up with his lips on her's in a feverish kiss. 

* * *

Here ends part 4 of Picturesque, a.k.a Let's All Kick Walls.   
Congratulations to Jessica, who emailed me with the correct quote of Dido's song "Thank You". (It was "I'm wondering why I got out of bed at all", and Ginny said it). Her prize was to have any character she wanted mentioned in this chapter, and her choice was Angelina...Hence the shoe-throwing-story.   
What's next for Ron and Herm? Will Harry and Ginny 'bond' some more? Does Ron get turned on when people insult him or something? Find out...   
Next time: *This* chapter *will* have Charlie! There will be sap and angst..And possibly a mention of Draco Malfoy. ;) Chapter Five will have a possibly unexpected tie-in with Chapter One.   
There will probably be 1-3 more chapters of Picturesque...It all depends on how much I decide to include in the next chapter.   
Thanks to all who reviewed despite Fidoish difficulties, and thanks to those who emailed me just to give me a review.   


#####  Please don't sue the Sad Broke Child.


	5. Unclear Intentions

**A/N:** Only one or two more chapters to go, depending on how long the end of Picturesque turns out. Bear with this chapter- it's more character based than fluff based (although it has much of that too) but it's important to the story. To those of you slightly upset over the cursing in last chapter, keep in mind that it was lightly said, and only put in there because I believed it was true to what Ron's character would say at that moment. I try to put keeping everyone in character over censorship issues. ;) Thanks and enjoy. 

* * *

### Picturesque

#### Unclear Intentions

"Don't worry," a voice behind Harry said. "I'm sure there's some spell to fix walls. Mum never has to know."

Harry turned his gaze from the very apparent dent in the wall (courtesty of Ron) to the fiery-haired girl looking over his shoulder. 

"I hope you're right," Harry grumbled.

"'Course I am." Ginny grinned at him. Fred and George passed through the room, told Ginny and Harry that lunch was about ready, and then headed upstairs, presumably to tell Ron the same thing. Ginny waited until they had passed. 

"Ron sure looked frustrated," she said finally in a slightly lowered voice. 

Harry smiled. "Yeah, he was going crazy. I thought for sure he'd..." Harry stopped and gave Ginny the fisheye. "How do you know Ron looked frustrated?" 

Ginny shrugged guiltily.

"You were spying, weren't you?"

"I was casually watching from afar."

"Uh huh. Were you casually listening from afar?"

"Maybe," Ginny squeaked.

Harry gave a heavy sigh. "What did you hear, Ginny?"

"Nothing much," she said hurriedly. "Just that Hermione broke up with Viktor Krum early this summer and didn't tell Ron... Oh, and that you think Hermione is a really good kisser." 

Harry looked embarrassed. "Shut up, will you? You know I only said that to bother Ron."

"I hope so," Ginny grumbled.

Harry gave her a strange look.

"Erm, well, I mean...Ron really likes Hermione, doesn't he? And if you had strong feelings for her...Well, that would be bad. Uh, for you, I mean. You and Ron. And your friendship. That would be very bad for yours and Ron's friendship." Ginny smiled nervously at Harry. "Don't you think?" 

~~~ 

"You, Ron Weasley," Hermione said, with an impressive certainty, "are a complete jerk."

Rudely she stepped forward, about to shove Ron out of the way, but one way or another Ron ended up kissing her or she ended up kissing him. It was impossible to tell if one person had initiated it at all- certainly none of that mattered now. 

Both rightly startled by this, Hermione and Ron broke apart for a moment, staring at each other with a mixed look of confusion and understanding before they kissed again. They were considerably less bewildered this time, giving way to an intensity neither had ever experienced. Ron held Hermione close as her arms slipped around his neck, bringing him closer to her and deepening their kiss. 

"Don't mind us!" someone called out cheerfully. "Just came to tell you lunch was ready."

Ron and Hermione jumped in unison. Turning, they saw Fred and George at the top of the stairs. Hermione's eyes quickly scanned the corridor, and she gave a sigh of exasperation as she saw Percy's head sticking out from a partially open doorway. He looked as if he were interested, but trying to appear annoyed.

"And this," Ron muttered softly to Hermione, "is just another reason why I love having a big family." He turned from her and stared at Fred and George. 

They both smiled brightly. 

"'Ello Ron!" George said helpfully.

"I guess the passion isn't forbidden anymore," Fred muttered to George.

"WHAT," Ron shouted after a moment (during which he had grown red again) "is WRONG with you two? Why the hell do you _always_ appear whenever anything...anything..." 

"Racy is going on?" 

"We try to keep things PG-13 in this household," Fred said gravely.

"You two were heading for some serious gropage," George said.

"We were not," Hermione sputtered indignantly.

"Come on now, you were."

"Why don't you both get LIVES?" Ron continued. "Invite Angelina over! Then you guys can make-out or throw shoes or do whatever the hell you want!"

"We told you the shoe-throwing story?" George asked.

"You tell _everyone_ the shoe-throwing story!" Ron glared. "Just tell me _why_ you're always there to see everyone in every awkward situation available. No. Wait. Don't tell me why. Just leave everybody alone!"

"No way," George said, totally unfazed.

"This summer has been better than a soap opera," Fred agreed. 

"Make your _own_ bloody soap opera," Ron yelled.

"A soap opera about shoe-throwing?" Fred looked skeptical. "Don't think it'd be very successful."

"It'd make an interesting sport though." George grinned. 

"GET OUT." Ron looked as if he were about to reach for his wand.

"Right-tee-o, little brother." The twins headed back down the stairs.

"Have fun!" Fred called over his shoulder.

"Shut. Up," Ron said between gritted teeth. His eyes went to Percy. 

"I heard yelling so I...." Percy's guilt over eavesdropping quickly went away and he turned huffy. "Next time," he said, only the smallest hint of a smile on his face, "don't be so noisy." Percy hurried downstairs for lunch. 

This left Ron and Hermione standing alone, awkwardly. They stared at each other for a moment, before both of their gazes fell to the floor.

"What now?" Ron asked finally, his voice low and soft. 

"What now..." Hermione agreed, her tone matching Ron's. There was a long pause. 

"Well," Hermione said finally, and to Ron's surprise, her tone was brisk, "I think I'd better go study."

"_Study_?" Ron looked at her incredulously. 

"Yes," Hermione replied. "Study. I'm way behind on my schoolwork." She moved towards Ginny's room.

Ron stared at Hermione as if she were some foreign creature, and Hermione fidgeted under his gaze. However, Ron didn't remove his eyes. "Don't you want to... I don't know...work this out?" 

"Work what out?" Hermione asked impatiently. 

"Us..." Ron blushed. "How we feel about...uh, each other."

"I don't know how you feel about _me_," Hermione said, trying not to blush herself, "but I _still_ think you're a complete jerk."

She stepped into Ginny's room and closed the door. 

~~~

A complete jerk maybe, but an awfully good kisser, Hermione thought to herself as soon as the door had been shut. She fell against it, a silly grin on her face. She actually giggled out loud. 

Oh God, what an idiot she was being! Honestly, she was as bad as Lavender or Pavarti. Hermione had always scorned the way they behaved about boys- Giggling in the hallways at the mere sight of a cute seventh year, and dropping quills in class for a crush to pick up. Now look at her.

But then... This wasn't quite the same thing, was it? It wasn't just some random boy who she barely knew. This was _Ron_. Somehow the whole thing seemed entirely different than a silly crush. 

Still, what did she know of the matter? She wasn't very experienced. Her feelings for Viktor Krum had only gone so far. Hermione had always felt a little bad about how she had felt towards Viktor. Shouldn't she be excited and intrigued at this mysterious older foreigner, a professional Quidditch player? Viktor practically had his own fan club. He was intelligent and patient, if a little strange. But who wasn't?

Yet something had always been lacking between them, and whatever it was they lacked stung sharply whenever Hermione compared her relationship with Viktor to her relationship with Ron.

Ron was lazy with his school work. He was nearly always being sarcastic, would never be considered the best looking boy at Hogwarts, he wasn't some amazing Quidditch player, and he seemed to have great joy in arguing with Hermione. 

But something about her relationship with Ron always had the ability to make Hermione's blood boil. Viktor had never made her blood boil, he had never even made her emotions run high. The feeling that Ron could give her... It was such an exhilarating feeling that Hermione knew she wouldn't give it up for the world.

Hadn't she come in here to study? She should do so. She should stop grinning and go and study.

_Hermione, you _didn't_ come in here to study. _ She had come inside to get away from Ron.

Ron, Ron, Ron. Always Ron, always Hermione running away from him, always Hermione being irrational around him. 

She had tried to be cool, calm and collected. It didn't work... When Harry had kissed her, she had been calm enough... Well, not exactly _calm_ but she hadn't been too flustered. She had tried to pretend it hadn't happened. 

Yet with Ron she had been doing her fair share of screaming to begin with. And she had been turning just as red as him. Well, perhaps not _quite_ as red. Hermione doubted that it was even possible to turn as red as Ron did. She could just see him now, the color quickly rising to his cheeks as he stumbled over his words.

And there was that stupid grin on her face again. 

Hermione darted her eyes quickly around the room, then closed them. She could indulge just a _little_ in the event that had just happened, couldn't she? Of course, the whole memory was very silly but it was also kind of nice... And yes, it sounded like an incredibly stupid, cliched and sappy poem, but it was _her_ poem. _Her_ memory of the way Ron's arms had felt, wrapped around her in a sort of tender way that she had never experienced... The way he had looked at her... The way he had leaned in and-

_Tap tap tap_

There was a soft knocking. 

With a gasp of surprise Hermione whirled around and jumped away from the door.

"Hermione?"

"Come in!" Hermione said shrilly and rather shakily.

The door opened and Ginny glanced in.

"Hi," she said, with a confused smile. Hermione wondered if she knew yet. "Don't you want to come downstairs for lunch?" 

"Yes." Ron would be there. "No." Hermione paused. "Um, I- I mean, not now. I'm not hungry."

"Are you sure?"

"Very sure. Very very sure." Hermione nodded enthusiastically. 

Ginny tilted her head. "Are you okay?"

"Fine. Just fine!"

"Okay... See you at supper then, _right_?" Ginny said sternly.

"Right!" 

Giving Hermione an odd look, Ginny softly closed the door. 

Now then. Where was she? 

Oh yes. Ron had just leaned in closer...

~~~

Ron poked lifelessly at his salmon croquettes. He was nearly oblivious to Harry, Percy, Fred, George, Charlie, and Ginny, all who were sitting around the dinner table.

"Aren't you hungry, Ron?" Mrs. Weasley asked. She was slightly peeved that Hermione had decided not to come downstairs and that Mr. Weasley had had to leave for work extremely earlier that morning.

"Oh, I think Ron's...er, hungers are fulfilled for now," Fred said airily. He exchanged a glance with George who snickered. "Isn't that right, Ron?"

Ron, however, didn't seem to hear them. His eyes were worriedly on the kitchen's entrance and he was leaning forward anxiously.

Ginny sighed as Mrs. Weasley went on about wasting food. 

"Hermione isn't coming down to lunch, Ron," Ginny said in a lowered voice, realizing that he hadn't heard her tell their mother that. "You won't have to make a run for it."

"What?" Ron immediately came back to reality. "Oh..." He shrugged easily. "Make a run for it? Why would I do that? I mean..." He paused. The effort of explanation wasn't worth it. Ron sulkily slid back into his chair. "Whatever."

"Whatever? Nice save." Ron obviously wasn't going to tell her what had happened upstairs... Which was just as well, as the twins had made sure Harry and Ginny knew all about it.

Ginny watched as her mother left the kitchen along with Percy, and then stabbed angrily at her plate. Her fork clattered nicely against it. Harry arched an eyebrow, looking in her direction.

Charlie sighed. "So. Where's Hermione?"

"She's not coming to lunch," Ginny said. "And she's in a very strange mood."

Fred and George both smirked.

"Go on," Ron snapped. "Crack a joke."

"Nah," Fred said. "Too easy."

"Oh dern." Ginny gave a mocking look of disappointment. "And I was really looking forward to your first class humor."

"What's eating you?" George asked, casting a glance at Ginny for the first time that afternoon. Both he and Fred had been too busy bothering Ron. 

Ginny gave a dramatic sigh. "I'm sick of this summer."

Fred and George gasped.

Charlie pouted at her teasingly. "My presence isn't enough to save the summer?"

Ginny glared. "I'm _not_ kidding. The first half was all right I guess, but _now_..." Ginny shook her head in disgust. "People whispering... Doors constantly being slammed... Everyone shouting at one another. And _some people_..." Ginny looked pointedly at Ron. "Some people might as well just not be here at all, the way they've been staring off into space, ignoring everybody else."

Charlie and Fred and George and Harry all looked at Ron. 

Ron looked up. "Huh? What?"

"Did you even hear a word I said?" Ginny said, the twins looking on with amusement.

"Uh...Sure. 'Course I did..."

Ginny continued to glare at him. "What did I say then?"

"Uh...Something about doors...and whispering...And uh, space... Doors whispering into space?" Ron shrugged lamely and looked to Harry. "Did I get it right?" 

"Yeah," Harry said. "Doors whispering into space. It's all we've been talking about."

"Oh, shut up," Ron sighed. 

"Normally," Ginny went on, "the summer is the best time of the year... You guys used to all have Quidditch matches nearly every evening, remember? But now Harry and Hermione and Ron are all wrapped up in themselves, and Fred and George are always working on their joke shop- either that or trying to catch Hermione kissing someone new. Percy's always working, and Charlie'll only be here for another week. I'm always left out as a tagalong." Ginny took a deep breath. "This summer sucks." She calmly took another bite of her lunch. 

Everything was quiet for a minute, except for the sound of their forks.

"Wrapped up in myself, am I?" Ron said finally. "How about this, Ginny, why don't you take my place? See how much fun you have." 

He stood up, cleared his plate, and left the room.

The rest of lunch continued in silence, except for some random small talk started by Charlie and for Fred and George consulting about a few of their experiments (they seemed to take little notice of Ginny's outburst). Gradually everybody left the table except Ginny, who stayed, staring at her plate.

"Er... Are you okay?" It was Harry. Obviously not everyone had left the table. 

"I'm alright," Ginny said.

Harry gave her a worried smile. "I've been trying to think up some cool reassuring line... But that was the best I came up with." 

"I'm alright," Ginny repeated.

"No you're not."

"Yes, I am." She paused. "But I'm sorry if I yelled at you guys."

"No you're not."

"No, I'm not," she agreed.

There was an awkward silence. 

Ginny seemed to be experiencing a lot of those these days.

"I guess we have been sort of ignoring you..." Harry said finally.

"It's not that," Ginny said, feeling exasperated. "I just want a nice simple summer. You know? All the yelling that goes on here these days... All the kissing." Ginny made a face. 

Harry grinned. "Ah, well, kissing isn't all bad... It just helps if it's the right two people kissing. And uh, not the wrong two people."

Ginny frowned. "How do you know if it's the wrong two people?"

"Uh...well...I guess you don't. I guess you can only _really_ know if it's the right two people." 

"How do you know that?"

"I, er..." Harry cleared his throat nervously. He was blushing slightly. "I don't know. I guess you just _know_." 

They had both walked closer towards each other during this exchange, and were now only inches apart. 

"You just know?"

"Yeah...I mean...Yeah. I guess. It's just...right."

This would have been the perfect moment for Harry to sweep Ginny into a deep and passionate kiss. Ginny could almost hear slow romantic music in the background. 

"Just right?" She stood there, so close to him, almost breathless.

But a moment later Harry wasn't kissing her. He was sitting back down at the table.

"Yeah...Just right." He laughed. "That sounds really cliched, doesn't it?"

Ginny didn't respond. She watched as he continued eating his now lukewarm lunch.

"Do you want me to heat that up for you?" she asked faintly.

"Nah, it's fine," Harry replied easily. 

With an almost inaudible sigh, Ginny sat down to finish eating her lunch as well.

There was something terribly unromantic about eating a cold lunch with someone. Even if the someone was Harry Potter. 

~~~

Ron was not at a high point.

He was nervous, startled, confused...

And remarkably pissed off. 

Things had started off not so very unusual. 

Get up. Shower. Eat. Argue with Hermione. Kiss Hermione.

Now gee, which one of those wasn't in the normal routine? 

Naturally Ron had gotten up, Ron had showered, and he wasn't anorexic (he had eaten his fill during breakfast). Arguing with Hermione was also generally part of the normal routine. Of course, they hadn't exactly been arguing about their usual topic... 

But arguing was arguing, wasn't it?

Everything didn't usually end in a make-out session. That was just not how things went.

Not that Ron would necessarily complain about this new ending.

_I mean, I've denied my feelings about Hermione for months,_ he justified, _ and then I've _ debated my feelings about her for months. And then I've felt jealous of her for a hell of a long time... Ron sank back into the chair in his room. _ It's about bloody time._

But their kiss hadn't ended all too wonderfully. Whenever Ron had allowed himself to imagine what it would be like to kiss Hermione (and he did so very rarely, since self-torture wasn't big in his book) it had never ended with her calling him a complete jerk. That wasn't part of the script. 

Was he a bad kisser?

Or maybe his newfound insecurity about his kissing was a turnoff. Did girls care about that stuff? And Hermione was the one who had initiated the damned thing! Or had it been him? Had either of them started anything at all? Ron couldn't remember. It had just _happened_. 

But after it had happened, both he and Hermione had responded with full...uh... vigor.

Oh God. Since when did the word _vigor_ become part of his vocabulary?

One moment Hermione had seemed enthusiastic about the whole thing, and the next moment she had (once again) called Ron a complete jerk, after mumbling something about needing to study.

Which brought Ron back to square one.

Hermione was _completely_ insane.

~~~

Hermione sulked at the sun shining outside.

Her initial glow at everything that had happened was fading... Now she was just feeling stupid.

Hermione withstood many things without complaint. The Slytherin's constant taunting, Harry and Ron persistently trying to get her to break rules with them. She even withstood Rita Skeeter's awful comments and the lovely letters that followed as a result of these comments. 

But she couldn't stand feeling stupid. 

It was all Ron's fault. How dare he demand that they need to talk about _anything!_ As if he were calling the shots! All he tried to do was get a rise out of her. And when he did- when he finally got her really angry, she had ended up kissing him. 

Stupid.

And then..._then_ Ron had the nerve to ask her if she wanted to work things out! Five minutes before he had been glaring at her. Yet his eyes were soft as he asked her that. 

Hermione sighed. She hated when Ron got sentimental... mainly because she was in danger of growing overly sentimental herself whenever such a rare occurrence happened.

What would have happened if Hermione had gotten sentimental? What would she have done? What would she have said? What would Ron even think of her, if she lost control of what she said and did? 

He wouldn't know what to think. Practical, intelligent Hermione Granger, going on about emotions and dreams...and love. 

She would only embarrass herself in the long run.

But then...what would she do? Could she ever go back to being that practical girl? 

She'd forget it. Just like she had so many other things, she would forget anything had happened. Ron might grow angry at first, but he would get over it. He always did.

Briskly, Hermione picked up a Hogwarts book (_Forbidden Passions_ had been put away) and began reading. Reading, and reading and forgetting...

Hermione shut the book with a snap as somebody knocked at the door.

* * *

Here ends part 5 of Picturesque, a.k.a Okay-So-It's-Not-My-Usual-Cliff-Hanger-Ending.  
Who's-a-knockin' at Hermione's door? Will Ginny do something besides stare at Harry? Will Fred and George get bored with R/H's little soap opera and start watching some soap operas that are actually well-written? ;) Find out!  
Next time: Ron get's advice from an unexpected source. Hermione comes to a revelation. And action may actually be taken (as opposed to everyone just mulling over their thoughts, as this gang tends to do. ^_^ ) 

I would like to give a big thanks to everyone who's reviewed this story and shared their opinion on it. Also a big thanks to Rhi. Her hot picture of Percy (who knew?) inspired me. ;) Don't sue, yada yada yada. 


	6. Stumbling Visions

A/N: Bear with this chapter, only one more left.   
**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of these characters. If I did, I would be very very rich and it wouldn't be called fanfiction, now would it? 

Picturesque

Part Six: Stumbling Visions

Hermione eyed the door as if it were a snake. 

She wouldn't answer it. There was absolutely no reason why she should. It would be Ron, and all that would happen was that they would stare at each other awkwardly and that would be that. A waste of her time. 

The door opened.

It was Charlie, and he wasn't wearing a shirt.

Hermione wondered if Ron would look like that without a shirt. 

And realizing that those words had actually formed in her mind, Hermione also had a strong urge to smack herself.

"Oh...Uh, sorry." Charlie gave an embarrassed grin. "I thought nobody was in here... You didn't say anything."

"I was caught up in my reading..." 

But Charlie had stopped listening and gone to Ginny's closet. "Ginny said she had patched up my robe yesterday... It got very badly burned by a Short-Snout. She said she left it in her room. That a good enough explanation for barging in here?" Charlie asked, his last few words slightly muffled as he found the robe and put it on 

When Hermione didn't answer Charlie glanced over at her. She was staring very hard at her book, although her eyes didn't seem to be focused on the words at all.

"Good quality paper?" Charlie sighed. "Are you actually reading that book?"

Hermione tried to keep quiet. Her emotions had seemed to decide to catch up to her at that very moment with Charlie in the room. The sudden wave of feelings were utterly confusing, and the confusion alone threatened to bring Hermione to tears.

Charlie glanced at Hermione more closely. "You've been crying, haven't you?"

Hermione wouldn't for the life of her admit that she had cried the night before. Maybe she should talk to Harry... Yesterday they had both explained their reasoning for their kiss, and going back to being friends had just seemed to happen naturally. 

"Okay, what's wrong?" 

Then again, Harry wasn't quite the love expert. And Charlie _was_ more mature.

"Everything," Hermione said before she could stop herself. "Or...Nothing."

"Uh...huh... Does it have anything to do with my little brother?"

"It might."

"Good Lord...Don't tell me you're in love with Percy!"

"Hah. Hah." 

"Don't I get a bonus hah?" Whatever happened to her Charlie being more mature theory? 

"Do Fred and George get their obnoxious nature from you?"

"Ouch..."

"What did Ron tell you?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"Nothing! I simply...gathered..."

"Gathered? From what?"

"Hermione," Charlie said seriously, "if you avoid speaking to someone in all circumstances, blush or look incredibly angry whenever that person _does_ speak, and that person does the same for you... It doesn't take a genius."

Hermione rolled her eyes. "How did you _really_ find out?"

"Fred and George."

"Thought so."

~~~

Fred and George stood behind Ginny. Ginny felt their eyes on her. Turning around she looked at them, and they both smiled pleasantly. With a sigh Ginny turned around again, but the twins stayed there, neither of them saying a word. Ginny watched the sky for a moment, but could tell the twins were still there, watching _her_.

"What?!" Ginny snapped finally, whirling around. 

"You have to get over lover boy," George said, not unkindly. 

"What are you talking about?"

Fred gave Ginny a pitying look and pointed to the sky. A small blur that was Harry flew past them. 

"So?!" 

"So, you've been watching Harry for over half an hour."

"I have not. I've been watching the sky. It's not _my_ fault Harry keeps intruding in my patch of sky, now is it?"

Fred and George both raised an eyebrow.

"I mean, if he just _happens_ to fly by...Well, what am _I_ going to do?"

Fred shook his head pityingly. "George and I, we've been waiting for a kiss between you and Harry. You know, waiting to catch you in an awkward situation..."

"It's really easy to catch Ron and Hermione together and make them uncomfortable. In fact, it's hard _not_ to..." George smirked.

"But you and Harry?" Fred sighed. "You two are going at it at the pace of a sloth."

"Do you know anybody who likes watching sloths, Ginny?" 

"I don't know what you're talking about," Ginny sniffed. 

"Well, there are bird watchers, but I don't know of any sloth watchers, and-"

"I mean about me and Harry," Ginny said, impatiently interrupting George.

"Haven't you two even kissed?"

"What?!"

"I'll take that as a no..."

"Harry is just a friend," Ginny said, turning away from the twins. Harry seemed to find this moment appropriate to sweep down towards the ground and wave at Ginny, Fred and George before soaring off again. Ginny found herself smiling and waving back wildly.

Fred made a sound of disbelief.

"What?" Ginny asked again.

"That was not a friendship wave," Fred told her.

"That was a wave of infatuation," George agreed. 

"That was an I-want-you wave." 

"That was a Take-me-now wave."

"An I'm-undressing-you-with-my-eyes wave."

"A Can-I-marry-you-and-have-your-babies wave."

"Ew!" Ginny said and made a face.

"We speak but the truth," Fred said sagely.

"Just go away, will you?" Ginny sighed. "I don't feel like listening to this. I just want to be left alone."

"Left alone with Harry?"

"GO AWAY!"

Fred seemed to feel rather guilty now, and went back into the house. George, however, lagged behind.

"I really think he may like you, Gin..." George said gently. "You should go for it. I mean, you don't have to be satisfied with stalking-" 

"I'm not stalking!"

"-and watching from afar. I'm telling you, Ginny, there's a good chance Harry likes you. Why don't you just find out?"

"I told you to go away," Ginny said, although most of the anger had drained from her voice.

"Fair enough," George said, shrugging, and ran to catch up with Fred.

~~~

"Ron, did you take my quills AGAIN? How many times do I have to tell you that-... Good Lord, are you doing _homework_?"

Ron gave Percy a sulky look. "You have tons of quills in your room. I was just _borrowing_ this one, mine are out of ink."

"You're doing _homework_!" Percy marveled, dropping the subject of his quills. "And it's...Ron, it's mid-august! You have a good two weeks left to procrastinate."

"I just thought I'd get it over with, all right?" Grumbling, Ron returned to his work.

"Something is wrong," Percy said, beaming confidently.

"And you sound so heartbroken about it too."

"Perhaps I can help."

"Since when have you jumped at the chance to be Ms. Advice Column?" Ron asked, turning around to face Percy. Percy looked flustered. "Oh. I see," Ron said knowingly. "Since you saw me and Hermione...me and Hermione..."

"Expressing... your...affections?" Percy offered tentatively.

"MAKING OUT IN THE HALLWAY!" Ron exploded. 

"Er...Well...Yes. That too..."

Ron sighed.

"You can't just avoid Hermione."

"Watch me."

"May I have my quill back now?"

"I _thought_ you were trying to help me."

"You obviously don't want help," Percy told his brother sharply.

"Fine then," Ron said, trying not to get angry. He glanced up at Percy. "Do you think Hermione is avoiding me too?"

"Yes, I do."

"Good," Ron said smugly. "That means she's upset." A worried look crossed his face. "Doesn't it?"

"I think she's upset... And why in the world you'd be happy about _that_ is beyond me."

"She's been nothing but a b-" Seeing Percy's look Ron started over. "She's being a twit."

"So are you."

"Maybe," Ron admitted. Percy looked at Ron in surprise, as he was usually much more stubborn than this. 

"The key," Percy said importantly, jumping at this chance, "is communication."

Ron raised an eyebrow.

"Well it is," Percy continued defensively. "I read it in a Daily Prophet column."

"So what are you saying? I've gotta talk to her?"

"Oh bravo," Percy said dryly. "Caught right on."

"Shut up. What do I say?"

~~~

"Please forgive me for being stupid, let's kiss and fall madly in love."

"I am _not_ telling Ron _that_." Hermione frowned. "I am not telling Ron anything. Ron can stay in his room until he's thirty for all I care, I don't want to talk to him right now."

"Why not?" Charlie asked. He was pacing Ginny's room, trying to get Hermione's stubborn side to fail. Hermione was perched impatiently on Ginny's bed.

"Because," Hermione began. "Because..."

"Yes?"

"Because he has no right to be a complete idiot, kiss me and then expect everything to be all better, tied up with a neat little red ribbon."

Charlie sighed. "Judging by the screaming I heard earlier Ron wasn't the only one being an idiot. You both sounded pretty mad."

Hermione shrugged.

"And," Charlie went on, "from the way Fred and George told it, Ron wasn't kissing you. You were kissing _each other_."

"Ron is right," Hermione grumbled to herself. "Fred and George both need girlfriends to occupy their time."

"Look!" Charlie said triumphantly. "You and Ron just agreed on something! Progress! Come on, Hermione, I'm sick of this. Go talk to Ron. Figure things out. You can't hide up here forever."

"Why not?"

"Well, you'll have to go to the bathroom eventually..."

"Am I supposed to laugh?" Hermione asked coldly, holding back a smile.

"A little chuckle would be nice," Charlie admitted. "Are you this mean to Ron?"

"I am NOT mean to R-" Hermione began, but Charlie cut her off.

"Look, either talk to the guy or don't. Just don't stay up here feeling sorry for yourself." He tilted his head at Hermione. "And get some sleep. You look terrible."

"Thanks," Hermione mumbled as Charlie left the room. Apparently she had made yet another person mad. It seemed to be a new talent of her's. 

_Charlie doesn't know what he's talking about_, Hermione reassured herself. Although, after a nearly sleepless night... Hermione yawned... A nap didn't sound too bad.

~~~

Harry soared to the ground, landing right next to where Ginny sat, staring up at the sky. 

"Ginny?"

"Oh," Ginny said, glancing at him. "Hi." She went back to looking at the sky. Harry blinked.

"So..." he said. "What's up and what's wrong?"

"My brothers," Ginny informed Harry, "are morons."

"Fred and George bothering you again?"

"Percy's working and Ron is sulking over Hermione, and they hardly ever tease Charlie. That leaves me."

Harry tried to wince sympathetically.

"Harry," Ginny said suddenly. "You don't think...you don't, erm, think that I'm..."

"What?"

"obsessedwithyou."

"Huh?" Harry asked. Then, figuring out what she said, he blushed. "No... Of course not, Ginny."

"Good," Ginny said. "Because I'm not, you know."

"I know."

"I don't have a crush on you. In fact," she said airily, "I don't like you at all."

"Uh... Good?"

Ginny gulped and shook her head. " I didn't mean that...It's just, I meant that I don't-"

"Have feelings for me," Harry finished.

Ginny nodded. 

"I know," Harry said again. "Come on Ginny, don't let Fred and George get to you. We're friends."

"Really?" Ginny said, turning slightly pink. Harry smiled.

"Yeah. What else would we be?"

"I thought you just saw me as an annoying little sister," Ginny confessed. "And Harry, I'm not. I'm nearly fourteen. I'm not stupid, or immature, or-"

"Ginny, I never thought you were any of those things."

"I'm just trying to say...I'm mature enough now to be considered your friend, don't you think?" Ginny looked at him anxiously.

"Ginny..." Harry gave her a little half hug before quickly letting go, surprised at how distressing it was to see Ginny so worried. "Of course I can consider you a friend... I just said I did, remember?"

Ginny smiled. "Can I also remind you then, that I'm usually not this pathetic about friendship?"

Harry nodded.

"I'm just sick of being considered the little sister," Ginny went on. "And I wanted to make sure that you didn't only see me that way. It's important that you don't."

Harry looked slightly embarrassed. He cleared his throat. "Er...So what are you doing out here?" Changing the topic. That was subtle.

"Just thinking... I'm going to garden later."

"Oh yeah, I saw that small garden in your family's backyard... It's really...nice."

"Thanks."

"Can I help?" Harry asked, before he could think twice.

"Gardening?" Ginny looked slightly startled. "Yeah, sure. Would you go inside and get a trowel?"

"A trowel?" Harry paused and then laughed. "So you don't garden with magic?"

"Just saying some silly spell isn't fun...And it isn't real." Ginny grinned. "So I guess if you want to help garden you'll have to _work_."

"Damn." Harry smiled. "It's inside?"

"In the basement."

"I'll be right back."

"All right," Ginny agreed, beaming as she watched Harry go. 

Harry went inside, but his steps slowed slightly as he entered, and he found himself watching Ginny from a window. The sun was shimmering against her hair in a way that caught Harry's eye immediately. She stood out against the bright day, as she sat there, self contained. Harry continued watching her for long a few minutes before he turned away nervously.

She could be his friend, he could talk and laugh with her, he could even let the thought that she was pretty pass casually through his mind... 

But he had to remember that she was still Ron's little sister.

God, why was that getting so hard to remember?

~~~

"You don't understand," Ron said, dismissing Percy's idea of reciting poetry. "Hermione isn't like that... She won't melt over a bunch of sappy words. She doesn't buy insincere crap." Ron smiled to himself. "Partly why I like her so much..." He coughed. "Uh, anyway. Save your sonnets for Penelope, okay?" 

They were both silent for a moment as they heard the door to Ginny's room opening, and footsteps going down the stairs. They both knew it was Hermione. Ron looked down. 

After a moment Percy frowned. "I do _not_ write sappy poetry. I just meant that maybe a poem or something will sweep Hermione off her feet."

"Percy, I don't want to sweep Hermione off her feet. I just want to figure out what's going on, can you get that through your thick skull?"

"Which brings us back to why don't you talk to her you stupid git."

"I want to...I guess. I don't know, maybe I should just forget anything ever happened. Harry and Hermione seem to have forgotten their little encounter... Why shouldn't she do the same with me?"

"That's different, and you know it is. Harry and Hermione, they have a friendship. What do you and Hermione have?"

"I don't even know anymore. We _had_ a friendship..."

"But it was never quite the ship shape friendship Harry and Hermione had, was it?"

Ron looked at Percy incredulously. "Ship shape?"

Percy glared.

"Uh, no." Ron looked nervously at Percy. "The shape was not ship," he said glumly. "Or...would it be the ship was not shape? Because, you know, neither one really makes much sense."

"Figure it out," Percy said. "How much does she mean to you?"

"Is there a reason you're trying to be so insightful?"

"Is there anything wrong with being insightful?"

"In your case, it's freaky."

Percy rolled his eyes. "Does Hermione matter to you?"

"Stupid question."

"If you want things to continue to go on in this offset manner, if you want to continue being formal and polite to her, if you want to go on avoiding awkward conversation just to save yourself a little embarrassment, if you want to just sit here...then don't go downstairs."

Ron shrugged and didn't move from his chair. 

"If you want to continue to go on with your life, never knowing what could have happened between you and Hermione if you had just talked to her, then don't go downstairs."

"Percy?"

"Yes?" 

Ron took a deep breath. "You're standing in front of the door."

Realizing he was in danger of being run over by Ron, Percy moved aside, and Ron opened the door. 

"Is my hair sticking up?" Ron asked, nervously patting down his hair as he gave the stairway an apprehensive look. 

"Ron."

With a sigh, Ron left his room and went downstairs, still patting down his hair and looking very pale.

Once he was sure Ron was gone Percy opened one of the drawers in Ron's desk and recovered fifteen of his quills and three bottles of ink. Slipping his formerly stolen property (each neatly marked with labels saying 'Property of Percival Weasley') under his arm, Percy smiled to himself.

"Knew that would work."

~~~

A cloud passed by Hermione's head- it looked like a choo-choo train, part of her noted dully. 

"Choo-choo," she said to herself. 

She looked down. 

She was suspended in mid-air. Trees and far off valleys were down below. Why in the world was she up _here_? 

Slowly Hermione began to descend towards the earth. 

"Bye bye choo-choo," she said softly as the ground came closer. She should be feeling panicked, she knew she should. But instead of feeling worried, she was feeling impatient. Where was Ron? Couldn't he help her out?

No, she thought, sighing. He was too busy slugging Draco Malfoy down below.

"How could you?" Ron said. Hermione was at the Weasley's now and Ron was looking at her despairingly. 

"What?" Hermione stared. "What did I do?"

Ron stared right back at her and shook his head. "You of all people should know better."

"Know _what_ better?"

"How could you do that?"

"Do what?" Now Hermione _was_ feeling panicked. She'd much rather be back in the sky. 

"Didn't you read about it?"

"Read what? Read about what?" Hermione blanched. "You're testing me! Is there going to be a test?"

"No."

"Then what?" Everything was so confusing! And Ron...Why did he keep looking at her like that, like she was stupid? Why wouldn't he stop?

"I dismissed all my house-elves," Ron told her. He was closer now, and he was whispering.

"You don't have any house-elves," Hermione said.

"Not any more." And then Ron was kissing her, except Hermione wasn't part of it... She was standing by the stairs, watching her and Ron kissing from below. She had to get back up there... She was so far away. It was so hard to see from so _so_ far away. 

They pulled apart. Ron took a step back.

"So. What do you have to say?"

Hermione didn't say anything. Ron started laughing.

"C'mon, Mione... Wait, you _do_ know what to say, don't you?"

"I...Am I supposed to? Ron, I didn't know I was supposed to."

Ron burst into a new fit of laughter, and Harry shook his head.

Harry was there? 

"What did you expect?" Harry said to Ron. "She doesn't know anything. Kinda sad, isn't it?"

"Very sad," Ron agreed, still laughing.

"Maybe if I... Hogwarts! If I go back to Hogwarts and research in the library, I'll find the answer!"

"Hermione, you know full well that on page 357 of 'Hogwarts a History', it's clearly stated that during the summer holiday, Hogwarts grounds are not open to any students unless specific circumstances are agreed on by the school's current headmaster or headmistress."

"Yes... Yes, I do know that, don't I? Or...Or was it page 316?"

"I always thought it was on 320," Harry said.

"Well nobody asked you, did they?" Hermione snapped.

"It's 357," Ron said without doubt.

Harry pouted at Hermione. "Can't believe I kissed you... Ginny's never so mean to me, are you, Ginny?" 

"Never," Ginny agreed, standing at Harry's side. Harry immediately grabbed Ginny and they began kissing.

"It's 357," Ron repeated. "I'm positive."

"Look!" Hermione pointed to Harry and Ginny. Maybe this would give her some time to read, to figure out the answer... "Look! Harry and your sister, Ginny! Ron, look at that!"

Ron furrowed his brow as he looked to where Harry and Ginny were. "I don't see anything."

"They were just there, Ron, they were! I'll go find them!"

"Do you know what to say now?" Ron sighed. "How could I ever have liked someone so dumb?"

"I'll go find them." Hermione ducked around a corner. Aha! Ron's room. Hermione was _sure_ they were in Ron's room. She'd go and show them to Ron, maybe then he wouldn't think she was dumb.

She threw open the door to Ron's room. The familiar Quidditch players and faint comforting scent that always reminded her of Ron greeted her, and her heart immediately stopped pounding.

"Harry? Ginny?" Hermione looked up and down messy shelves, opened drawers, but she couldn't find them. She looked on Ron's bed.

There was her book! Forbidden Passions! Hermione quickly took it off the bed. Maybe the answer was here?

She opened it at a random page and began to read. 

_"No, beloved, you know I love only you." The young man smiled._

"Oh, Ron, I love you too," the young woman replied, burying her face in his chest.

"Yes, Hermione, I know."

Hermione shut the book quickly and began to sob. Where was the answer?!

"You can't find what to say from any book," Charlie said, shaking his head. 

"Then where?!"

"You already know."

Hermione threw the book down and ran out of the room.

She crashed right into Ron. She fell down. Ron didn't.

"So?" he said.

Hermione grabbed a book out of Ron's hand. Sitting on the floor, she frantically turned the pages, the answer was in here somewhere, right, it had to be in here somewhere. Unicorn boils...Malfoy generations... Andalites... Spells to make your opponent laugh uncontrollably until they pass out... Where was it? _What_ was it?! 

"Didn't you hear?" Ron sighed again. "It's not in any book you'll know."

Charlie grabbed the book from Hermione and shut it with a thud.

Hermione bolted up in bed. 

Ron. She had to find Ron!

As soon as she looked at page 357 in Hogwarts, A History. She was sure dream-Ron was wrong about that.

~~~

A now fully awake Hermione leaped out of bed and ran down the stairs (Dream-Ron, it turned out to her dismay, was right). The real Ron, however, was no where in sight. Mrs. Weasley was reading on the sofa. 

"Mrs. Weasley?" Hermione said, her voice shaking slightly.

Mrs. Weasley looked up. "Oh. Yes dear?"

"Do you kno-" Hermione squinted at the book Mrs. Weasley was reading. "Are you reading..."

"Harry's book?" Mrs. Weasley said brightly.

"_Harry's_ book?"

"Have you read it too? It's called Forbidden Passions. It's quite exciting. I was cleaning Ginny's room and found it there... It certainly looked interesting."

"Um. Yes. I have read it. Um." Hermione was caught slightly off-guard. 

"There was something you wanted to ask me," Mrs. Weasley reminded gently.

Hermione nodded. "Do you, um, know where Ron is?"

"Hey," said a voice from behind her. Hermione turned to see Ron.

"Hi," she said quietly. 

Ron crossed towards her, and they both glanced quickly to Mrs. Weasley, who was once again, immersed in her reading. Then they looked back at each other.

"We need to talk," Ron said finally.

"Yes," Hermione agreed. "We do."

Here ends Part Six of Picturesque a.k.a Aren't-Abstract-Dreams-That-Make-Little-Sense-Fun-To-Write? Yes, the dream was *supposed* to be choppy and confusing. Sorry this chapter took so long...but hey, Charlie wasn't wearing a shirt for a bit of it! That makes up for it all, right?! 

I've learned not to promise things in my author notes anymore, because they very rarely happen in the next chapter..But I *can* promise that the next chapter will be the last (I really really hope.. It'd be terrible to have this go on forever until everybody gets sick of Picturesque). And I can also ask vague questions! For example...  
Will Ron and Hermione talk or will they end up killing eachother? Or will they do a little bit of both? When's the wedding date for Ginny and Harry? Who knows, at the pace they're going. Will Charlie and Percy start an advice column together? And is Percy's full name *really* Percival? 

Bwahaha, I'm enjoying my end-of-fic-note-thingy babbling priveleges. Come on, humor me! I'll only have one more chapter of Picturesque to do this in! Thanks to Ruby, Rhi and everybody who reviewed. And Cancer, let your sister finish the fic. Don't be power hungry... Fun as it is. ;) 


	7. Worth

Picturesque: Part 7 **A/N:** Last chapter... Yay, I think... First segment is a little weird, but it's supposed to be, so try and enjoy the weirdness. Thanks to everyone who read this far. I don't own any of these characters. 

PicturesquePart Seven: Worth

The sun caught on the metal of the trowel and glinted onto his face and forehead, causing Harry to squint. He listened to the sound it made as it met the earth. It was comforting, somehow. 

The compact square of dirt rested in Harry's hands, and he held it a little more closely, causing bits to crumble away, scattering. A few fell onto his shirt, but Harry didn't bother to brush them off. The dirt felt cool in his hands, and that was comforting somehow, too.

Ginny turned to Harry and held out her hands. Carefully Harry slowly moved forward with the about-to-be replanted tulip. The soil which it had grown from had been shaped into a perfect square from it's time in a square pot on Ginny's window sill. A petal scraped against Harry's chin as he placed the pack of dirt into Ginny's waiting hands, as if it were something precious. 

"Thanks," Ginny said softly, and placed the flower into the spot she had made for it. She began to break up the soil with her hands. The dirt collapsed around Ginny's fingers, getting onto her clothes and into her fingernails. 

Harry noticed this, but Ginny didn't seem to... Or if she did, she didn't care. It was refreshing, after being around the likes of Parvati and Lavender, who would screech if they got dirt on their _shoes_, let alone their hands. Even Hermione could be somewhat squeamish around dirt, unless she was working with it for a grade. 

Harry helped Ginny gently pat the new soil down. Together they lightly smoothed it over, their fingers brushing every now and then. At one time, Ginny's heart would be racing at this. But now, it seemed more like they were working toward a common goal. She wasn't striving for a chance with him, or watching him and saying nothing. This was different. She could never be awkward in her own garden. This was _her_ place, Harry was the stranger here, not her. They were mostly being silent, but the silence certainly wasn't awkward. This wasn't about getting a moment alone with Harry, it was about planting a flower and maybe some herbs. Some basil might be nice...

Harry glanced up at the sky. "It's gonna be dark in a couple of hours."

"We have time," Ginny assured him. 

And even though they were so close to one another, Ginny's stomach didn't give the slightest of flutters.

Okay, maybe just the slightest.

~~~

Ron looked to the floor. "Soo..." he began.

"That's no way to talk to me!" Hermione snapped. 

Ron raised an eyebrow.

"Sorry," Hermione whispered, blushing. "Force of habit."

"It would be," Ron said dryly. Hermione tried to smile, but even without looking at her reflection in the glass of a window, she could tell she looked pitiful.

She was smiling at him, Ron noticed. Okay, so she was smiling _ weakly_ at him. But it was a smile. Okay. Okay! He could say stuff. Stuff. Stuff. 

"I like Chocolate Frogs."

Hermione blinked.

"Well, I do," Ron said, growing defensive. 

"Chocolate frogs..." Hermione said slowly. "I like them too."

"Would you like a Chocolate Frog?"

"No, thank you." 

"Why not?" Ron asked desperately.

"Oh, for God's sake Ron!" Hermione cried. "Don't you want to talk about-". Hermione stopped. "...about..." And she faltered. "Damn!" she said with a sigh.

"What?" Ron asked warily.

"For a moment there everything felt normal," Hermione explained. "I was getting fed up with you just like I used to."

"Those were the days." Ron smiled. "You'd be fed up with me because I would be bothering you."

Hermione was surprised to find herself smiling as well. "We have some very strange 'fond memories'."

"No kidding." 

Hermione paused. "Ron... Do you think that maybe...That perhaps...we should just... Just...."

"Go back to the way things used to be?" Ron looked at Hermione seriously. He wasn't blushing, which was a change as he had been doing so every time he even _looked_ at Hermione these past few days.

Hermione nodded quickly. Ron had said what she had been afraid to say. "I don't know, Hermione," Ron said. He looked tired. 

"Do you want to talk about this somewhere else?" Hermione said, her voice hushed. She was a little nervous that Fred and George might be listening. Ron apparently had the same idea, as he nodded. "Maybe outside?" Hermione then suggested.

Ron nodded again.

"I'll get a sweater," Hermione said. 

"Yeah," Ron said. "It'll be getting dark soon."

"I'll be right back." 

Hermione climbed the stairs, leaving Ron to his own thoughts. 

~~~

"So, Hermione," Ron said nervously. No, that wasn't right. He stood up straighter, raised his chin confidently.

"So, Hermione," he said again, more casually. 

The face he was carefully watching stared at him, the words 'you bloody idiot' clearly written in it's eyes. 

"Have you taken up talking to yourself? An interesting hobby, to be sure."

"Shuddup," Ron muttered, angrily turning away from his reflection and ignoring the entrance way's mirror.

And then the next thing he knew Hermione was there, a sweater draped over her arm. She nodded to him, and Hermione reached for the door just as Ron did. 

They stood, poised one or two feet from the door, each with an arm outreached toward the door knob. They both looked at each other and awkwardly dropped their arms back to their side, stepping back to let the other open it. 

This, however, did not exactly succeed in getting the door open. 

Then Ron and Hermione took another step forward at the same time to open the door, finding themselves in the same situation. They laughed nervously.

"You go ahead," Hermione said, with another nervous giggle.

Ron stepped forward and opened the door for Hermione. Yet Hermione didn't move, but stayed still, looking at the open door. After a moment she noticed that Ron wasn't going through it.

"What are you doing?" she asked, furrowing her brow in confusion. 

"What am I..." Ron echoed in disbelief. "I'm holding the bloody door for you!"

Hermione stared. "Oh, goodness Ron, don't be silly."

"Fine," Ron said. "I won't be polite." 

Rolling her eyes, Hermione moved forward but Ron stepped outside and slammed the door in her face.

Now, instead of staring at Ron, Hermione now found herself goggling at a door. Grumbling, she flung the door open, her angry strides quickly taking her to Ron.

"YOU," she said loudly, "are UNBELIEVABLY immature."

"Why?" Ron asked loftily. "_You_ slammed a door on me before, if I remember correctly. In fact, you've slammed doors on me PLENTY of times. But wait, wait, when YOU do it, it's not immature, right? Because nothing Hermione Granger does can ever _ever_ be immature, oh no. But tell me, Herm, what would you call it exactly, seeing as immature won't do? Let me see. How about 'one acting with the behavior of, or equivalent to, an ass'. Does that work for you? Because it definitely works for ME."

"Hey, Lovers!"

Ron and Hermione's gaze flew to the house. A redheaded twin was sticking his head out the window.

"Yeah, you two. Could you keep it down out there? We're _trying_ to finish an invention. Why don't you wander away and snog behind a bush or something, eh?"

The window was shut loudly.

Ron and Hermione looked back to each other. They were both beginning to feel stupid. Without another word, they walked forward together as if nothing had happened. Hermione caught Ron's eyes narrowing. She shot him a questioning look and he gestured to the Weasley's garden. Hermione followed his gaze. Ginny and Harry were kneeling together, gardening. She could hear them talking softly.

"They've been like that for hours," Ron said with disbelief, his eyes still narrowed.

"Only one or two," Hermione said quickly. It probably wouldn't be a good idea to tell Ron about how...caught up in each other Ginny and Harry were in her dream. Besides, it was only a dream. This was the same dream that had her waving to a cloud that looked like a choo-choo train.

"Yeah," Ron said, turning away from them and walking again. "It's nice, I guess. I mean, Ginny needs someone to talk to. It's good that Harry's trying to be sympathetic to her."

Hermione wasn't sure if she would have called it sympathy, but she was relieved that Ron looked untroubled by them again as they walked on, down a dusty path. Trees appeared less frequently, and despite the nearing evening, the sun was still strong. Strong enough to give Ron a moment to study Hermione face.

"You've been crying," he said suddenly, and before he could stop himself he reached out and touched the faint trail a tear had left on Hermione's cheek, his thumb soft as it went down the trail of the tear. 

"Yeah," she said quietly. There was no point in denying it now.

They stood like that for a moment. Hermione found herself wondering if maybe they would kiss, but then Ron turned away and began walking again. Hermione didn't run to catch up with him, and he stopped walking but didn't turn to face her. He was looking at the horizon.

"Earlier," he began, "I was thinking that if we just forgot everything..."

"What?" Hermione asked, finding it slightly nerve-wracking to talk to the back of Ron's head. She realized he was touching on what they were talking about earlier.

"Maybe things would be easier," Ron finished finally, turning around again. "Easier for you. For me. For everyone." He looked at her seriously. "Because Hermione... I need your friendship." And he was blushing again. "I mean...Yeah. That's what I mean. I don't know what I'd do if I lost it somehow. We always argue, I mean we always do, but if I was...well...if we were..." Ron paused and started over. "If something happened between us and we fought, I could lose you forever. Not you as a...a..."

"Girlfriend?" Hermione supplied.

"Yeah. That. Not only that, but I would lose you as a friend and as someone to talk to... Maybe lose you from my life forever."

Hermione was used to arguing with Ron, but after this she couldn't find an argument that didn't sound childish and faint. "You're right," she said. "It can't be worth it." _It can._ "It can't be." 

~~~

"Crimey," Fred muttered. "They're still out there."

"They're crazy," George said, following his twin's gaze. "Out of their minds."

Fred shook his head in disgust, continuing to watch Harry and Ginny. 

"Well then," George said turning away from the window, "guess we should get back to those exploding tea cups. I was thinking that maybe we should add a bit of gypsy dust, that should do the trick." 

"Maybe he's gay," Fred said suddenly. 

"What?" George paused and then laughed. "Who? Harry?" 

"Well, LOOK at him! I mean, I'm not eager to have Ginny start dating... But I hate seeing her beat herself up, just because Lightning-Face doesn't have the brains to notice her."

"Lightning-Face?"

"And look at her! You know what comes from all of this, George?"

"Substandard name calling?"

"Low self-esteem! Ginny will think she's not good enough for him."

"She won't think that for long. She's pretty, I'm sure next year the guys in her year will be all over her."

"It'll be too late. She'll already have low self-esteem from Harry's 'rejection', and then she'll let all those guys take advantage of her." Fred gave a frustrated sigh. "If Harry had any hormones at all he would have already taken advantage of her, like a proper guy."

"And you'd like that?"

"No! I'm just explaining my 'Harry's Gay' theory, okay?!"

"I talked to Ginny. Told her to find out what's going on between her and Harry, to finally figure things out."

"And?"

"She told me to go away."

"Perfect. Just perfect."

George sighed. "Yeah. Meanwhile, Ron and Hermione are off God Knows where."

"What?!"

George looked at his twin in surprise. "Didn't you see? They went off somewhere outside together."

Fred's worried expression turned to a grin. "We've got to catch up to them. Humiliate Ron some more, maybe after this he'll finally stay out of our joke-shop work."

George looked tempted, but shook his head. "Fred, we've got to finish these tea cups. Thought we were going to try them out on Percy today."

"Oh, come on... Just this last time, then Ron'll leave us alone for good."

George sighed and put away the gypsy dust he had taken out. "Fine. Fine." Fred and him headed toward the doorway. 

"And just WHERE do you two think you're going?"

Fred and George grimaced. They easily recognized their mother's booming voice. "Percy was speaking with me," Mrs. Weasley said, heading up the stairs to meet the twins. "He had some very interesting things to say. Apparently the parchment you lent him disintegrated as soon as his quill touched it." 

Fred and George exchanged guilty looks.

"So get BACK into your room, boys. I thought that maybe, MAYBE this time you would give up this joke shop nonsense, but noo... Yes, that's right, you stay in there until dinner. Think about what you did to your poor brother. How is he EVER going to get work done with you two here, hm? Hmm? Think about that, will you?" 

Mrs. Weasley went on a bit longer, and Fred and George tuned her out, as usual. When she finally left George looked at Fred incredulously. 

"Now c'mon," George said, shaking his head. "You really want to humiliate Ron while we have _Percival Weasley _ to harass?"

Fred smirked. "Huh. So where's that gypsy dust you were talking about?" 

~~~

Ron's heart sank. Hermione didn't think that they were worth it. What was he doing, then? What was he doing out here, trying to convince her that maybe... Maybe... 

Heh. And a hell of a job he was doing, too, trying to convince Hermione when he couldn't even convince himself that maybe the chance was worth taking. She agreed with him, too. She agreed that it wasn't worth it, that he wasn't worth it. Pretty funny, really, the one time they agreed on something it was the one thing he didn't want them to agree on. Pretty funny. 

Hermione was looking at him strangely. He wished she would look away, or maybe change her expression. It'd be nice if she would get angry at him. Nice and familiar. 

It can't be, she had said. It can't be. And suddenly nothing was more important to Ron than convincing her that they _could_ be. He met her gaze, and his face was so in earnest that Hermione was taken back. 

"No, see, that's what I thought..." Ron started. "I thought that it couldn't be worth it. But then... Well, I was talking to Percy."

Hermione laughed before she could stop herself. "This _is_ Percy Weasley we're talking about, right?"

Ron grinned. "Yeah, yeah. I can hardly believe it myself. He asked me if I could continue my life never knowing if..." He stopped, realizing Hermione was caught on his every word. He looked down at the grass. "Never knowing if maybe something could have happened between us... And then I thought, what if I missed an opportunity? What if I go through life wondering what would have happened if I had just talked to you..." He had been muttering at first but his voice grew stronger as he continued, even though he still refused to look up at Hermione.

Hermione was glad that he didn't look at her. She wouldn't have known what to offer him. A smile? She hardly felt that fit. A nod of agreement? Should she tilt her head indulgently, silently asking him to continue?

She wanted to ask him to continue, more than anything. She wanted to hear what Ron would have said and she wanted to feel what he too felt as he talked.

But he didn't look up at her. His head remained low and he fell silent. Why wouldn't he look at her? Hermione felt incredibly alone suddenly. She needed something from Ron, something to tell her how to react or what to say or what to think. She had nothing here. The feeling was actually familiar... It was the same one from the dream. When Ron asked her if she knew what she was supposed to say.

Charlie's words echoed in her mind. "You can't find what to say from any book."

She leaned over and kissed Ron.

Dream-Charlie seemed smarter than Real-Charlie anyway.

~~~

"So," a loud voice said, causing Percy's shoulders to jump in surprise. The sudden jerk upset the bottle of ink, which rolled to it's side. Four- no _five _ blots of ink landed on the parchment Percy had been working on, and the quill tumbled to the floor. With a deliberately noisy sigh, Percy bent down and picked up the quill, clicking his tongue at the state his parchment was now in. 

"I hope you're happy," he said without turning his head. "It's no good now."

"Ah yes," George said, following Fred in. "The all-important cauldron case. Gone. Ruined forever by a few ink blots."

"There are _five_ ink blots, for your information," Percy said, whirling around in his seat and glaring at the twins. "A few would be considered a _small_ cluster. Five is a _large_ cluster."

"What's the deal?" Fred said, striding to Percy with George. Together the two managed to surround him, in a way only Fred and George could. "Snitching on us, I mean."

"Oh, that," Percy said airily. "Speaking of which, shouldn't you be in your room?"

Mutual glares were all the response Percy got. He shook his head.

"Really, shouldn't you two be used to this game? You bother me, I tell Mum...And look, she bothers you." Turning around again, Percy cleaned up the parchment as best he could and began writing again. "The problem you two have," he went on, still scribbling, "is that you're bored. Ron and Hermione's little soap opera is still going on, isn't it? Why are you two still here?" 

"They're gone," George said looking sullen. "'Dunno where they got to."

"They left?" Percy gave a private smile to his desk. The purpose of this was merely to infuriate the twins, who glanced at each other.

"What's up?" George asked suspiciously.

"What do you mean?" was the reply they finally got, after a few moments where the scratching of Percy's quill was all to be heard. 

"Do you know something?"

"Me? How could I bother myself with your petty affairs? Oh, but..." Percy dipped his quill into the ink. "I _did_ happen to talk with Ron-"

"_What_?"

"About Hermione."

Fred and George stared. Then Fred began to laugh.

"_You_ gave _Ron_ love advice? No way..."

"Hmm, well, he seemed to listen, didn't he?"

"How did you..." George managed to say. "What did you..."

"-say to him?" Percy supplied. George nodded.

"Oh, nothing important. Just general common sense." 

"And that would be?"

Percy rose from his seat and moved across the room to the door.

"Just my usual wisdom, things I've picked up over my years on this great Earth." He grinned. "Perhaps running an advice column is my true calling in life. Nice to have something to fall back on, hm? More stable than relying on, say, a joke shop."

He shut the door, and Fred and George gaped after him. 

~~~

"I don't know," Hermione said quietly, as she and Ron pulled away. "What to do, I mean."

Ron was looking at her again, and finally she felt as though she knew something, as though maybe now she was a little more grounded. A little less afraid. Something like that. 

"What was that for?" Ron asked with genuine curiosity.

"I don't know the answer to that, either."

Hermione was startled when Ron gave a short laugh. "This," he said, "is completely screwed up."

"What is?" Hermione asked crossly, embarrassed that he had laughed at her.

"You just gave into the fact that you didn't know the answer to something."

"Ohmygod...You... You're right." Hermione promptly sat down in the middle of the dusty road and buried her face in her hands. Tentatively Ron touched Hermione's shoulder. 

"What?" came a small distressed voice. Ron's eyes widened as he heard a muffled sob.

"Nonono!" he said, pulling his hand away swiftly. "Don't _do_ that!"

This only resulted in a louder and more apparent sob.

Ron ran a hand through his hair nervously, standing next to Hermione clumsily. He was very glad her eyes were covered, as she couldn't see how increasingly pale he was becoming.

"Hermione..." he said after a moment, his voice gentle in contrast to his former startled tone. "Please..."

"Ibam fo ficathis."

"Uh...what?"

"I said I am so SICK of this," Hermione repeated, removing her hands from her face. "I thought we were here to figure things out Ron. Instead it's turning into a crappy little pity party for none other than ME. Well, guess what? I don't like throwing those parties anymore than you do. I don't like going in circles. I don't like avoiding solutions."

"Bull!" Ron said, his voice rising. "You love doing all of that. Yeah, anything to keep you from admitting what you _feel_. No problem saying what you think though, or measuring the odds. Or even just sitting down in the middle of the road to cry, just so you don't have to think about what you really _want_."

Hermione was staring at Ron. "You can't be serious. What exactly do you think you've been doing out here? First thing you do is give me a monologue on why we shouldn't be together, how it isn't worth it, and oh, it can only end badly. And I said my lines, Ron, I did. I nodded politely."

"And you agreed! You fell right back on your own pillow of, um...denial."

"The same denial you've been using since DAY ONE of my time here... Maybe even before that." Hermione had stood up and was looking straight at Ron. "You bring me out here just to tell me that you and I...that we're not _worth_ it?! I don't believe it. When it comes right down to it, Ron Weasley, there's only one thing I need to know." 

"What's that?" Ron said with a sneer.

"Do you _want_ us to be worth it?"

~~~

"G'bye, Charlie!" Ginny called out, running toward her brother. Charlie was out in the yard, getting ready to Apparate back to work. He gave her a warm hug as she reached him.

"Bye, Gin," he said fondly. The others had already said their goodbyes, save Harry. "Harry's finishing some planting... But he says bye too."

Charlie's eyes wandered over to where Harry was. "Are you two a..." he stopped as Ginny began to blush. "I mean...I'll see you Ginny. You better send me lots of owls, I get lonely sometimes."

"I will," Ginny promised.

"And don't let Fred and George hog all the chocolate frogs."

"I won't." 

"And make sure to-." Ginny gave him a look. "Sorry...It's a big brother instinct." He kissed her lightly on top of her head before disapparating. 

Ginny watched the space where her brother had been for a few moments before turning back and walking to Harry. He was patting down some dirt. His face looked more peaceful than Ginny had ever seen it before. Hearing her footsteps he turned and gave her a sincere smile.

"Charlie left," Ginny said, kneeling down besides Harry and getting back to work. 

"Yeah," Harry said. "I guess I should have said goodbye."

"It's okay," Ginny said without looking at Harry. "He was in a rush anyway." 

Charlie was going to ask if they were a couple. God, she had been having a nice time, and then he had to remind her of her feelings. Did Harry think this was some pathetic attempt to get him alone with her? Was he just humoring her?

"My parents used to garden."

"What?" Ginny jumped, but Harry didn't see her. His eyes were trained on a flower. "What?" Ginny said again, a little more calmly. 

"My parents used to garden. In that photo album, maybe ten of the pictures are of them gardening together."

"Oh..." Ginny felt very awkward. "Well...I mean... We can stop. We've gotten a lot of work done already and-"

"No." Harry's voice was fierce. Ginny gave him a sidelong glance. "This is... I mean... I can see why they loved it." He smiled to himself. "It's like discovering a piece of their minds." 

Ginny didn't know quite what to say to this. She concentrated on planting instead, expecting Harry to lapse into silence. But he kept talking.

"It's strange though, thinking of my parents as people living lives. I never really thought of them as anything but..." Harry stopped and started over. "It's just weird to think of them getting up in the morning like everybody else, and having hobbies and things they loved and hated. Talking about stupid stuff... Going through the day, and then falling asleep again, just like everybody else in the world."

"I guess that's what happens," Ginny said, not quite sure what she was saying. "Weird things happen to everybody, but through everything... what choice do you have but to keep living? Everybody has quirks and wishes... Things that make them human. Your parents were never an exception." 

Harry was watching her closely, as if he was waiting for her to continue. Ginny looked down. "You know what I mean," she said quietly, her voice not nearly as confident as it had been. "You yourself are living proof, Harry."

Harry tilted his head in confusion. "You've been through more than _anybody_ should have to go through," she explained. "But you keep going. You keep waking up every morning and you keep playing Quidditch and you keep taking tests for school... Despite everything. I just mean...everyone has had to use normalcy as a resort sometimes. Even the great heroes of our time are normal people for the most part. And then we idolize them, and somehow that takes away from their humanity. That's why you need to learn more about your parents... To make them human and real." 

Harry was staring at her, and Ginny didn't break the glance. Awkwardly Harry reached out and touched Ginny's arm. Ginny wasn't sure why. Harry wasn't either.

"You'd think that... I don't know, you'd think that maybe as I got older I'd forget them more," Harry said slowly. "But it seems the older I get the more real they are. The more I can see them."

"That's because the older you get the more you're like your parents."

Harry turned away, as if he was once again turning back to his work. He blink furiously. He wouldn't cry, he wouldn't be stupid, not here not here not here, not now, not with Ginny's eyes on him. He could almost feel her concern. He could picture her perfectly, sitting there, watching him. She'd be staring, eyes filled with bewilderment and concern, red hair tickling her shoulders, a small smudge of dirt on her cheek from working in the small garden. 

God, he really _could_ picture her perfectly. 

Ginny watched Harry's back. He turned away. Obviously couldn't be bothered with her, especially after her little speech. She felt stupid. What in the world had she been saying? He must think she was a freak. Hey, she agreed with him. Who was she to talk about death, and humanity anyway? 

A freak. A patronizing freak. One who would love nothing more than to disappear at that very moment. Things had been going well between her and Harry. Very well, in fact. Or at least, they had been going well until she had decided to talk. Until she decided to-

"Thanks." Harry's voice was soft, barely more than a whisper. He turned to Ginny finally. She carefully studied his eyes, and for once didn't blush in doing so.

For the first time she realized that Harry, too, was only human. She had idolized him, hadn't she? And suddenly she didn't... Suddenly all she saw was a normal boy, who had to go through life just like everybody else. 

_I really think he may like you, Gin._

Why was she remembering George's words at a time like this?

She was finally seeing Harry the way he always wanted to be seen: A kid. 

She liked him all the more. He was no longer a famous name. Now he was more real. Everything was more real. Harry woke up and he slept, he got angry and he laughed at stupid jokes. He could made mistakes. 

He could cry. 

And he could like normal girls. Normal little sister-types that also laughed at stupid jokes and made mistakes. Normal girls that sometimes cried. He could like them... Or at least know that they liked him. 

_ I'm telling you, Ginny, there's a good chance Harry likes you. Why don't you just find out?" _

All right, George. 

"Harry..." Ginny said taking a deep breath and smiling. "There's something I've got to tell you."

~~~ 

"Do you _want_ us to be worth it?"

Hermione's words jolted Ron awake, and he could only stare at Hermione, so unexpected were they.

"Well?" she said, impatiently tapping her foot.

"C'mon," he said quietly.

This caught Hermione by surprise. "What? Where?"

Ron began moving forward up the path.

"Ron." Hermione sighed. "We don't have time for these games."

"Just come on. Follow me." He didn't turn around, and after a moment Hermione ran to catch up with him.

"Ron," she said again, her eyes settling on him with a frown. "It's going to be dark soon."

"You have a sweater," he said cheerfully, waiting for her to catch up with him, eyes laughing.

"You don't," she pointed out.

"I'll be fine," he said airily, walking again.

"Ron, stop being stupid! Now tell me where we're going or I'll-" Hermione gasped, cutting off her own words. Her eyes widened.

They were back on the top of the hill. The same hill Ron had taken her to the first day she had gotten there this summer. 

Except this time, the sun was setting. 

Poets had always raved about sunsets, and artists had always tried to express the pureness of the colors with faded paints. But the words they weaved and the pictures they painted fell short at this moment. The sun was quickly falling, and the red sky was growing streaked with dark blue. The pink flush of the clouds was fading to a light purple, and some were already the dark colors they would remain until dawn, leaving parts of the sky a dynamic heart wrenching picture, and other parts a soothing pastel. 

"Ron..." Hermione murmured quietly, looking to him. He was still looking forward into the horizon. The sky was casting sharp shadows on the tiny cottages below. Finally he turned to Hermione.

"I don't want to stay up at night, staring at the ceiling, unable to sleep because I keep wondering if I had a great chance that I refused, just because I was stupid and afraid. I want to take a chance."

The words sounded stale and formulatic when they reached Ron's ears. They hadn't sounded like that in his head. In his head the words had sounded real and pure...

He could only imagine how they sounded to Hermione. He waited anxiously. She would laugh.

She didn't.

"You weren't the only one who was afraid," Hermione said after a moment in silence, during which she had watched Ron intently. "I kept running away... Everything I went through with Viktor, with Harry... They only forced me to admit my real feelings for you, despite everything we'd be risking... Our friendship."

Ron looked at her. Awkwardly he took her hand, looking slightly embarrassed, as even this light gesture seemed important and intimate. 

"Hermione, I want us to be worth it." 

She smiled.

"Then," she said, "I guess we are." 

They kissed very lightly, still nervous. The same shadows that fell sharply on houses were falling on them, adding intensity to every moment. 

"So...we're..." She started, then stopped.

"Yeah," Ron replied with a slightly shaky smile which grew more real. They watched the setting sun for a moment. "Beautiful," he whispered.

"Sunsets always are," Hermione said. 

Sunsets. Right. He could go with that. "It's like something out of a picture," Ron said finally. "It's just..."

"Picturesque."

"Yeah." 

"Things aren't going to be perfect," Hermione said softly, finding herself caring about this fact very little as she leaned against Ron. 

"No," Ron agreed, taking in the scent of Hermione's hair. 

"We'll argue," she went on, smiling and taking a deep breath. 

"We'll fight."

"We'll yell."

"We may even throw shoes at each other."

Hermione raised an eyebrow. "What?" 

"Uh... Never mind," Ron said, grinning silently. 

They kissed slowly, letting the moment linger longer than they had planned it to.

"I guess we should go back," Hermione said, another cloud growing dark. "Have dinner." She paused. "Right after I kill Fred and George."

"Works for me." Ron smirked, but neither made any move to get up as Hermione rested her head against Ron's shoulder and his arm went around her waist. 

They watched night arrive in silence, veils of shadows falling over the two. 

_fin_

Okay, so, a very strange ending to a very strange fic... Sorry about that, I was in a very strange mood when I wrote this. I realize it's lacking the usual humor, but that's partly because it didn't work with this chapter...so yeah, sorry about the weirdness. To think I was expecting Picturesque to have only three parts. The scene with Ginny and Harry is purposely going to be left as a cliff-hanger. I was very surprised at how G/Hy this fic got, it's not like I'm some big G/H fan- never even cared much one way or the other. Anyway, I didn't want the fic to end all tied up with a red ribbon, but if anyone would like to write a fanfic continuing from that scene, please tell me about it, I'd love to read it. Oh, and there's probably some editing or html mistakes in this...I was very rushed. Sorry! 

Anyway..Thanks to everyone I've thanked in previous chapters, and thanks once again to the reviewers. I guess no more rambly end-of-fic-notes until my next fic. See you then, hopefully! 


End file.
